Bangalore:
We often hear and read in India that “merit” and “efficiency” have suffered because of reservations to SC/STs. To counter this, the high caste people of India, who voice this complaint, have let lose violent agitations. Since the theory of “chosen people”, is a Fascist theory, the Indian Aryans and their Brahminised followers, like the German Nazis believe that “merit” goes with birth. An angry “letter to editor” in The Hindu by Subramanya Sharma Nittale (April 28) says, “the rapid decadence of academic standards and the campus indiscipline are a direct sequel to the reservations”. Even top scientists like Raja Ramanna and many others sincerely believe that reservations is the sole cause of Indian’s misery. Nobody has commented about this better than Justice V. R. Krishna lyer of the Supreme Court who, in his last judgment on the controversial Railway Oppressed Employees writ challenging the Govt. order on reservations in promotions, said the petitioners had even argued that many railway accidents were due to reservations, meaning that “inefficient” SC/ST drivers were responsible for this. Iyer said the petitioners, however, had failed to prove the charge. Nor could the court come across any evidence to this effect. The opponents of the reservations say Untouchables and tribals have no brains. But what is the fact? We know that in Hindu India there is nothing like a fact. The Hindus believe what they want to believe. It need not be a fact. We have top scientists in India who say Satya Saibaba “produces” wrist watches!!!
But the UNESCO report-1956 has proven that given equal opportunity and treatment anybody can come up to the top. Where opportunities are denied due to a system of society legitimized by god and religion, as in Hindu India, reservations are a must. That an “Untouchable” girl could come to the top in a “free society” like that in USA has further proved us right. Writes Dr. Velu Annamalai, a Dalit from Tamil Nadu : “You may be happy to know that my 11 year old daughter has won the first place in the spelling contest in the whole of the South Texas and now she goes to Washington DC to compete against students from rest of the USA. It is a rare honour for an Indian youth, leave alone one from an Untouchable background.” We are touched by this remark. Could she have won the same honour had she been in India? Never. Here “merit” goes by caste. Also note that English is the mother tongue of USA but the girl’s is Tamil. Even then she trounced the English speaking competitors. Given opportunity, anybody can come up. “Malini Buffy Annamalai, 11years-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Velu Annamalai of Three Rivers, won the spelling bee held at Corpus Christi’s Harbor Playhouse last week after a marathon 4 hour, record 145 rounds of spelling. Buffy was competing with 18 of the best spellers in South Texas in the 30th annual contest sponsored by the Corpus Christi Caller- Times and Harbor Playhouse. Malini spelled “exacerbate” and then spelled “formaldehyde” to win the first place honor. She won a Zenith television set, and an all-expense paid trip to Washing- ton D.C. to compete in the National Spelling Bee June 6-11. All country winners received certificates.” Great ! [The Progress, April 13, 1983]
