I was too small when I first saw a guy named Goswami on television, setting himself on fire, at that time I was to small to understand the politics of casteism. But I soon realized as I grew up how badly a student can be hit with this game providing seats to SO CALLED “underprivileged” sections of the society.
The politicians are very good at playing this card to lure this lucrative backward caste vote bank, but who cares for the future of a student from a privileged caste, from a poor or middleclass family, does the government think we are living a society where the OBC’s and BC’s are harassed and deprived of their rights, or are they depriving us of our rights, I am myself a Brahmin, I know my ancestors made life for people from backward castes’ a living hell, but it’s the reverse now, everywhere you go, you find in all government jobs a seat already reserved for them, here’s a fact, which outraged me more, during my school days one of my friends scored second class in his SSC exams, That friend of mine secured engineering seat with Vivekananda college in Mumbai with just 62% on OBC certificate which he himself said his father had fabricated right from the time he was admitted in the school. Another BC friend of mine, who secured seat with a medical college being a BC, was a big time spendthrift, staying in government quarters, having all luxuries and his father working with MTNL, I was applying in a college for a commerce seat, I just filled forms in one of its wing, I did not know that the same college had another wing offering commerce seats, I found myself disheartened seeing people from OBC’s and BC caste grabbing merit list ahead of me, and I just lost my seat in that college by 2 marks.
When college re-opened special quota seats under Gujarati quota, again doors were closed for me as an OBC guy with just 38% was getting seat against my 72%. Forget commerce, I think how hurting it is for students and parents who spend up a fortune making their kids study for competitive exams for IIT’s, IIM’s, what for, to just handover their hard work and money spent for a readymade admission for OBC’s and BC students, I now think it’s a curse to be born under open caste.
While watching the movie rang de Basanti, in the end the message the movie tries to put across is to end the corruption in the system, we need to be in the system, but HOW ?, when majority seats are gobbled up by OBC’s, BC’s and Minorities, what’s left for the open caste. I was really impressed by the recent movie V for vendetta, where the famous slogan from the movie says “The Governments should be afraid of people and not the people who should be afraid of governments”. Maybe our country is need of such kind of a revolution, why bills related to issues of importance are not passed in the assembly, and such weapons of the caste play in forms of bills are passed out without any protest from any party. Coz they all are partners in crime.
The most disturbing fact is that HRD ministry is hell bent on even making reservations for jobs compulsory with corporate sector for jobs, please stop this mess here, at least spare the corporate world from getting mediocre staff, do they want people who are rich and from well to do families and just with a caste document to get a seat than a deserving student who is struggling to make his ends meet, studying hard, still missing out to such dirty politics game of casteism.
Is dividing the country on basis of caste a requisite of today’s society? , or our political parties themselves following the manuvaad hierarchy of the society. All said and done, revolutions cannot be created without action taken, all the words written in media, all debate shows that may be staged on television, would not be of any help, till the time we rise from our sleep, and own our governments and not let them own us !