Then I remembered about the recent protest amongst the postgraduate aspirants in Maharashtra belonging to the general category, who can only take admission via merit, for the high percentage of reservation in the postgraduate seats.
It was a difficult answer to type, seeing the sensitivity of this issue. This made my answer a bit longer than previously expected.
There are two facets to my answer to this question, like two sides of the coin — heads and tails, and I do not want to keep it short because short answers are prone to misunderstandings.
The First Facet- Heads
I really don’t differentiate between doctors, or any professionals, based on their caste, creed, gender, religion, race, etc. I believe that any lapse of judgment or care on the part of the doctor is his individual professional deficit only, and it is not related in any way to any caste, creed, race, etc.
Well, I even have many colleagues belonging to the Scheduled Castes/Tribes excelling in their studies and work, far better than those belonging to the General category. That is their personal proficiency, and in no way should be linked with their caste or tribe. With this explaining my original stand, let’s look at the second facet, i.e., tails.
The Second Facet- Tails
Amatullah Merchant had written a descriptive answer in Quora regarding this protest. But we need to understand first-why was reservation given at first?
Reservation is like “training wheels”, a kind of tool for the underprivileged sections of the society to help them come forward and compete equally in all spheres of life in the country. The start of reservations, by itself, had been flawed, even though it was well-intentioned.
By keeping reservations on the basis of caste (which is static) instead of economic strength (which is dynamic) it has brought forth what is now called the creamy layer. This layer of our society consists of some people from the Scheduled Castes and Tribes who have now risen up in terms of economically as well as socially (with many people in high ranks of professional life) but have been reluctant to let go of their “training wheels”.
I was not actually surprised when this news occurred. I believe that here, the government is innocent because it has to go according to the demands of the voices, whoever becomes prominent at a particular time. (Democracy is “government of the people, by the people, for the people”, remember?)
I expected something like this happening as an aftermath-the way in 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence happened, giving rise to casteist voices like Hardik Patel and Jignesh Mewani. Any government in power would want to appease them. The more surprising thing was that even many people of the general category were brainwashed by them.
Let me be clear to everyone reading this — even now, many people belonging to the “higher castes” of the bygone era (barring some fringe elements) are highly apologetic about the atrocities committed by their ancestors(unlike another section of the society who are in a constant denial mode, about whom I will write someday) and still support equality. But this isn’t equality in any sense at all.
Many even tried atoning for their ancestors’ sins, by promoting equality amongst all. But even after rising up, sometimes at an advantaged position than us, the people of the creamy layer say that their children are still underprivileged and need the “training wheels” even now. Won’t this be promoting inequality again?
This scenario may further justify the introduction of an “exit test” now, with very high cut-off scores which does not spare the defaulters, regardless of which caste or tribe they belong to.
I hope this reply serves as a primer to understand the thoughts of the people protesting against the reservations in entrance exams for any institution.
As an endnote — I belong to the caste of Julia Kaibarta, which is a Scheduled Caste in the Indian Constitution. My paternal grandfather was a refugee during the partition of India, and being impoverished and living in a refugee camp, utilized the SC certificate during education. After rising up to a clerical job in the Life Insurance Corporation of India, he decided that after him no one will use the SC certificate for reservations and that everyone from then onwards would fight in the open category.
This was revolutionary in those times, but he didn’t publicize it much, and his SC certificate was hidden in old trunks, which I discovered after his death. My maternal grandfather also took a revolutionary step, when he looked beyond my father’s caste and judged him according to his educational qualifications, for marriage. This was nearly unheard of in the case of ‘arranged marriages’. I thank both of my grandfathers for inculcating such progressive ideas in the family, and I am proud to be their grandson.
Disclaimer – The Author does not intend to endorse or support any political party or group and wishes to simply express his opinions in a free and independent fashion.