THE TRIBUNE, MAY 04, 2012
Jats vs non-Jats
After Haryana was
formed in November 1966, for most of the time the Chief Minister of the state is from the Jat community. Intermittently, if there have been non-Jat Chief
Ministers, they were either a protégé of some powerful Jat leader of the time
or seen hankering after Jat support for political survival. It bears testimony
to the political clout of Jats in Haryana. Hence, it sounds quite queasy to
hear the shrieks of demand for reservation from within the Jat community.
The common refrain
of the protagonists of the Jat reservation is that some other peasantry castes
in Haryana are already enjoying benefits of reservation, then why not Jats? Two
wrongs do not make a right, they constitute a blunder. The remedy lies in
denotifying and dis-entitling any such caste from reaping the fruits of
reservation, if after an objective appraisal found that they do not qualify for
it.
We must be alive
to the hard fact that reservation is a state's charity and it is highly unbecoming
of any self-respecting person to live of anybody’s alms unless physically
handicapped.
Dr Rajender Goyal, Delhi
PS CAVEAT:- I have been misquoted by News Paper The Tribune in certain material aspects:-
- I never entitled my write up as “Jats vs non-jats as published. Rather the write up I had sent was entitled as “RESERVATION EMBROGLIO”.
- The
words “Unless physically handcapped” in the last line are the
concoction of the News paper in the guise of necessary editing. I
had used the expression "Be that as it may be, we must be
alive to the hard fact that reservation is a state's charity and it
is highly unbecoming of any self-respecting person to live off
anybody’s alms unless it is not at all possible to stand on one's own
legs due to some insurmountable present or historical reasons".
It is crystal clear that expression "due to some insurmountable present
or historical reasons" enables the extension of the reservation
benefits not only to the physically handicapped persons but also to
SC/ST/BC/OBC/Widows/victims of riots and natural calamities etc in
genuine cases.
The original write up sent to the Tribune reads as follows:-
RESERVATION EMBROGLIO
Apropos the News report “Consensus on no reservation to Jat
community”, (April 30, 2012), I would like to add that the Founding Fathers’
vision of reservation policy was like that of the crutches lent to a limbless
person until his limbs grow up and he stands on his own legs. The time has come
at such a pass, paradoxically, where we see that the erstwhile limbless person,
now having fully grown-up limbs, does not want to let go of the borrowed
crutches, and the inherently able-bodied person has also started clamouring for
the crutches.
The political power is the magnet that attracts all other coveted temporal
attributes like money, strength, status, recognition etc. in tow. In the
context of jat agitation for reservation, we must know that after the formation
of Haryana in November 1966, for most of the time, the Chief Minister of the
state is from jat community. Intermittently, if there have been non-jat Chief
Ministers, they were either a protégé of some powerful jat leader of the time
or seen hankering after jat supports for survival. It bears out the pre-eminent
position and stout political clout of jats in Haryana. Hence, it sounds quite
queasy to hear the shrieks of demand for reservation from with in the jat
community.
The quota based
reservation policy a part of the affirmative action was aimed as a tool of
egalitarianism. It now stands catapulted as a prized booty. To grab upon
reservation- one has to engage with the state and take casualties. The fumes
billowed out of Gujjar agitation in Rajasthan have hardly died down, now jats
are up in the arms in Haryana demanding reservation and guess who can be the
next? Obviously only those daredevils who can muster up enough strength to
block national highways, vandalise the public and private property, jeopardize
others’ lives, chase away the police and security personnel, sacrifice precious
lives at the altar of reservation cauldron and above the all, enjoy overt or
covert political patronage from either side of the fence! The common refrain of
the protagonists of the jat reservation is that some other peasantry castes in
Haryana already enjoy the benefits of the reservation, then, why jat should not
be? It must be brought home to them that two wrongs do not make a right, they
constitute a plumb blunder. The remedy lies in denotifying and disentitling any
of such castes to reap the fruits of the reservation, if after an objective
appraisal, found that they do not qualify for it.
Be
that as it may be, we must be alive to the hard fact that reservation is a
state's charity and it is highly unbecoming of any self-respecting person to
live off anybody’s alms unless it is not at all possible to stand on one's own
legs due to some insurmountable present or historical reasons. We should
shun the path of confrontation and violence, and pledge to dedicate ourselves
in the mission of nation-building to find our Country in the league of the
developed countries in the next two decade.
Dr RAJENDER GOYAL,
Visiting Faculty (Law)
CPJ College of Higher Studies and School
of Law, Delhi
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