By YKA Staff:
Editor’s note: For over 10 days, Haryana has been gripped by violence as members of the Jat community protest for reservation in jobs and education in the state. First the army was deployed. Then shoot-at-sight orders were issued in some districts. 18 people have been killed and 200 have been injured.
In response to this violent agitation, Home Minister Rajnath Singh announced that a committee led by Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu will look into reservation in jobs for Jats in the central government. The Haryana government has added that Jats will be granted reservation under special category in the coming assembly session.
Our community of contributors sent in an overwhelming number of messages, expressing their opinion on the protests and whether reservation should be granted to communities, regardless of caste and economic status.
Here are some of the comments that we received:
Well, I believe reserving oneself for contingencies is good if we think the future is not secure. It is proven that the average, poor and middle strata are always ground by the upper strata. But there are other minorities also who are raising their voices or could raise in future. I suppose there should be equality in the reservation of jobs and education for each community or else reservation should be removed completely.
Prashashya Choudhury
First of all, I want to make a point that I don’t believe in reservation system because that system in itself is creating discrimination among people and also creating doubts regarding the worthiness of one at the cost of others. The reservation system was introduced for the upliftment of the people belonging to lower caste or class or both. And it has succeeded to some extent but the problem of discrimination still exists. Rather I think the problem of discrimination had gotten more embedded in the society.
Secondly, since reservation exists in India for the people from lower strata with the motive of climbing the ladder upwards, it is pertinent to notice the fact that in every community there are people belonging from lower strata. And the government cannot give reservation to everyone. True that it is supposed to provide opportunities and many other things to ensure that nobody has to live below the poverty line but it has been failing due to its never-ending corruption, vote-banks, etc.
Hence, I would conclude by saying that reservation should not be granted to any one particular community. If the government is signing-off on any kind of reservation, then it should be for people who are worse off and need it and not for any particular community or religion or caste.
Satyam Mishra
The first thing which comes to mind is, why was this term ‘Reservation’ incorporated in our Constitution?
The answer is as simple as straight. It was added to uplift the poor and to develop the living conditions of such communities and castes who were deprived, discriminated and dominated.
But now everything has changed. Now reservation is misused. People don’t want to work hard, they want everything but aren’t ready to give their full effort to achieve it.
Today if the government allows reservation for them, then we will see the same conditions in Gujarat and Andhra.
Mahesh Kulkarni
I reserve no qualms in stating that the ‘reservation system’, be it in education institutes or in government services, based on the caste of a person, was flawed right from its inception. It continues to this day for the sole reason that our politicians are not inclined to earn the wrath of certain communities, pandering to whose whims, they consider politically expedient. Not only Jats but even communities like Marathas are demanding reservations now.
In a ‘secular’ democracy like India, it is quite ironic that seats in educational institutes and jobs are reserved for persons of certain ‘castes’. It is upon us to boldly acknowledge the illegitimacy of such a system and do away with ‘caste based reservations’. But I know we lack the courage for doing this.
Dipayan Mitra
Jat reservation is going to be another addition in the never ending list of political tokenism. Why has the misinterpreted policy of the government been claiming these many lives? Livelihood isn’t cheap. Even Ambedkar wanted the reservation system to be in place for 15 years only. So why is it functional till now? Reservation must be based on economic class. I do feel the children of a poor Brahmin share the same bitter pain of poverty as the children of a poor Dalit.
Sparsh Agarwalla
At a time when India needs to do away with reservations, this comes as a great test for the administration. What the Jats have been demanding and the way in which they’re holding an entire state at ransom for their demands is utterly unjustified. Gaining the hate of an entire country is not a good bargain for getting a few jobs.
These guys have huge lands and wealth, yet they demand reservation in jobs. They require education which will get them jobs infinitely better than these acts of terrorism. The government ought to firmly tackle this crisis as this shall only serve as an incentive to unscrupulous and anti-social elements to create unrest in the nation.
A proclamation of emergency has become essential in the state of Haryana so that law and order may be restored. Given the crimes that have been committed in the course if this agitation, no reservation ought to be granted to such criminals.