No, we have many reservations...

BELU MAHESHWARI in the article "No, he is not my friend" (March 21) dwelt at length on the views of a cross-section of society from students to professors on reservation for Dalits.

Reservation of seats for Dalits in services or for admissions to engineering and medical colleges does in no way ameliorate the lot of Dalits who have faced the onslaught of a caste-ridden society for ages. The solution lies in giving free education to children of the economically deprived sections of society, whatever be the caste. The focus should be creating jobs rather than on reservation of jobs, in eradicating illiteracy and poverty rather than fooling Dalits by talking of reservation for them.

How fair is it that for the wards of IAS/IPS officers to get into any engineering for medical college with much less merit than brilliant students coming from the "so-called" upper-castes. How is an IAS, an IPS or an IFS officer a Dalit?

The founding fathers of the Indian Constitution provided for reservations for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) for a period of 10 years. When will the 10-year period end? It suits the politicians to let the Dalits and STs stick to crutches of reservation for all times to come, for these are their vote-banks. In 1990 V.P. Singh added more acrimony by mandalising the policy and providing for reservation for other backward classes (OBCs). Are Mulayams, Laloos and Sharad Yadavs backward?

All major political parties — the Congress, the BJP the CPI and the CPI (M) should sink their differences on this vital issue and decide not to bank on any vote banks. It’s only this way that we can achieve justice.

DURGA BHARDWAJ
Solan

II

Socio-economic reforms can never be powerful enough to uplift the downtrodden. The suffering masses of the last varna should not depend on them. Rather, they should inculcate in themselves the spirit and feeling that like the people of the so-called higher varnas they are also the creations of the same God and are not inferior to them in any way.

The Dalits should not entirely rely on the concessions propagated by the various ruling governments. They should shed the deep-rooted sense of feeling backward and should inculcate confidence in themselves.

S.K. CHANDAN
Kalka

III

The reservation policy has eroded their will to work hard so as to achieve admissions into colleges and services. Their ‘Dalit’ status achieves for them what effort may or may not. If a person is assured of promotion on the basis of his caste, why should he work diligently in his office? They have, as a matter of fact, lost the will to catch up with the rest of the people. Reservations can give the Dalits anything — anything except dignity. "He is not my friend", because he lacks dignity. The result of the snap-poll should make the reservationists sit up and think twice before accepting unearned benefits.

It is a paradox that while a statement or two made by Manu and Tulsidas have gained currency, nobody seems to know that the Brihada Upanishada caricatured pandits in the Monkey Chant in the 2nd Millennium B.C., just as our cinema does it today. Who bothers about the caste of the person who prepares our tea in a restaurant or a dhabha; or sits next to us in a cinema, a bus or a train, or stands next to us in the queue. We are ready for a classless, casteless society and let us resolve that caste shall find no mention in any official or educational document after December 31,1999. Let us ring out the caste system as we ring out the century.

Politicians are incapable of participating in any debate on issues of national importance, and if the caste-system persists, it will be because of their negative approach in the future-as indeed it has been in the past.

L.R. SHARMA
Solan

IV

A major reason of our alienation from Dalits is due to privileges conferred upon them. The more we see their presence in educational and vocational fields, the more we bristle with distrust. This is not wrong, since their presence in such areas is attributed to a compromise on merit. If their forefathers were subjected to social tyrranies, it does not imply that the descendant generations reaps the harvest.

A student scoring high first class fails in his efforts to get admission into the deemed professional institute while his contemporary, (a Dalit) who has scored barely half the marks is accepted gladly. Clearly this is injustice.

There should be equality for all, and appeasement of none.

SHELLY NARANG
Chandigarh

V

Dalits who are economically developed should be kept out of the reserved category because this class of well-established Dalits is responsible for misusing the opportunities given to those who are not economically well off. For the eradication of the caste system books etc should be provided free of cost by the government to only those who can not afford them. After taking this step, reservation of any kind should be abolished. Admissions and promotions should be strictly on the basis of merit and quality of work.

Actually, by making different categories, we are differentiating them from other people and not enabling them to get merged in society. If we don’t abolish this category system then how can we expect from a candidate of general category to deal with Dalits in a fair manner. Abolishing this system requires a lot of daring and courage.

Is there any leader in this country who can take this bold step which will benefit all people of India in the long run

PARAMBIR SINGH DUGGAL
Gurdaspur

Ramcharitmanas

This refers to the letter of Atma Ram (March 14). The text of Shri Ramcharitmanas, as also the text of Bhagavadgita, is without minor punctuation. Except for full stop there is no coma, semi-colon, sign of exclamation, sign of interrogation etc in the text.

The guiding principle enunciated by the sant, in Ramcharitmanas was as under:

Siyaram mai sab jag jani
Karho pranam jori jug panni.

(I see the Lord everywhere and see everything in the Lord. I most humbly pay my respects to everyone who considers him as his creation.)

A devout Hindu; who considers the aim of his life as the merger of his consciousness in transcendence, while punctuating any verse of the sant, invariably keeps the guiding principle of the sant in mind. Accordingly, he punctuates the "much maligned" verse in question, as under:

Dhor, gunwar shudar, pashu nari
Yeh sab taran ke adhikari

Now Dhor means beast. Even in English this word is used for a contemptible person.

Gunwar shudar means a worker who wastes his time and has no sense of duty.

Pashu nari – Sant Tulsidas was constrained to coin this symbolic word for ill-tempered persons who have no sense of responsibility, shame or decency.

So if the verse in question is punctuated, honestly, without prejudice and particularly taking into consideration the guiding principle enunciated by Tulsidas it will mean:

"Those who don’t have the sense of humanity, those who do not have the sense of duty, as also those who do not have sense of responsibility and sense of decency need to be treated sternly".

Sadly, some mischievous persons, who find a savage kind of satisfaction in maligning anything and everything the Hindus are proud of, have been successful in their nefarious activities by punctuating cunningly, adding one coma each, after dhor, gunwar,

Shudar and pashu in this verse, to malign the great sant.

Through your esteemed paper, I request the Atma Rams of India to see through the nefarious game of their enemies and further request them not to use four comas in this verse.

Atma Ram in particular is requested to apply one coma in the other verse and read it as:

Ram, na sakai Ram gungai
Oh Lord, it is not humanly possible.

S.L. MAHAJAN
Chandigarh

Humility is strength

Apropos of Taru Bahl’s write-up "Humility is strength, too" (March 21); this strength is achieved when we analyse true meanings of Humility.

‘Humility’ not boasting of one’s birth, position, qualifications and spiritual attainments. Remembering the evanscent nature of all things Phenomenal. Praising others. Seeing good in all. Treating even the lowest creatures as equal.

Humility doesn’t ask what is the decent thing to be done; it does the decent thing by instinct and without fuss.

We come nearest to the great, when we are great in ‘humility’.

O.P. SHARMA
Faridabad

This feature was published on April 4, 1999