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In the name of social justice!

In the name of social justice, gross injustice is being done to the meritorious among the upper castes. What was started as a policy of proactive discrimination for the uplift of the really downtrodden (initially conceived for a period of 10 years only) has now become a policy of perpetual discrimination, nay deprivation, against the upper castes.

Reservations in the present form amount to flagrant denial of justice to the deserving and diligent. Such a policy of advancement at the cost of general castes is skewed, lopsided and unjust. The late US President Abraham Lincoln aptly said, “You cannot ameliorate the lot of one section of society at the cost of the other”. Unfortunately in India, this dubious and divisive kind of amelioration has been going on for long, widening in scope and scale.

The caste system has been the bane of Indian society. It was responsible for the decline and subjugation of the country in the past. But the same system has now proved to be a boon to our power-hungry politicians who constitute the most vicious caste! This new caste has a vested interest in perpetuating the age-old caste system. Never have the caste differences and divisions, discrimination and discontent been so acute and debilitating to our body politic as they are now.

SUBHASH C. SHARMA, Rewari

II

Manu Maharaj is credited or discredited with the evolution of caste system. He had divided the society into four castes. Whether it was on the basis of birth or the skill of a person is debatable. But caste system has persisted and perpetuated over the ages. The thousand-odd castes and sub-castes are the bedrock of bias, prejudice, discrimination, nepotism, favouritism and corruption.

Our founding fathers envisaged a casteless society. Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajendra Prasad and others abhorred the idea of using the caste with their name. People of a healthy society must thwart the practice of using caste as a necessary adjunct to their names. The first step should be to stop writing the caste or sub-caste with the name of children at the time of school admission, if necessary, through legislation. The name of the father or mother may be suffixed with the name of the child, if so desired.

V. S. CHAUDHRI, Karnal

Serious indictment

Please refer to the news-item entitled “Bush misused Iraq intelligence: Report” (June 7). The Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) has always been an ardent supporter of American foreign policy as it has strongly advocated democracy, human rights and intolerance of genocide.

In his first inaugural address President Bush had assured the world that where the preservation of democracy and human rights were under stress his Administration’s voice and help would reach those beleaguered populations. At the fag end of his two-term presidency, I’m afraid President Bush deeds have not matched his words, as regards the Sikhs and Kashmiris.

Now it is reported that his Administration fudged intelligence reports to mislead Congress and the American people into war in Iraq. This is a very serious indictment by Senator John D. Rockefeller, Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

For an internal grave political and criminal misdemeanor, the Watergate scandal, President Nixon paid a high price and short of impeachment had to resign his presidency, the first in American history, and leave in disgrace. Similarly, President Reagan got caught in the Iraq Contra Affair and was saved by the skin of his teeth when Col. Oliver North from the National Security Council volunteered to become the scapegoat and took all the blame. Otherwise like President Nixon, President Reagan would also have had his chips.

President Bush and Vice-President Cheney who led America into war by deceit, subterfuge and chicanery, will have to pay a very heavy price as never before in American foreign policy the President and his Administration have cheated the American people so cunningly and slyly.

Our party also feels that President Bush will also be put in the dock for his proposed nuclear 123 Agreement with India, which has not signed the NPT and CTBT.

SIMRANJIT SINGH MANN,
President, Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar)
Quilla S. Harnam Singh (Fatehgarh Sahib)

CU tag for PU

The Punjab government must do its best to get Central University status for Panjab University. The UT administration should also help make Chandigarh proud of this distinction.

Let the students and teachers of PU sincerely work with passion and dedication to take the academic level to greater heights of excellence. They should resolve to put a ban on strike and violence on the campus. Let PU become a more peaceful and academically sound institute of world fame. In this context, I would appeal to the old students of the university to come forward and extend their valuable help.

ARUN KUMAR ANGRISH, Chandigarh