My home state has been literally on fire since the past week. The Gujjar community has been on the rampage because they want what has become one of the most coveted tags in India today i.e. the tag of 'Backwardness'. Maybe they have a legitimate demand. Maybe not. Thats for the authorities to decide. But this happened coz it was promised to them in the last assembly elections that they would be declared as a 'Scheduled Tribe' and - as usual the promise was broken. It doesn't matter which party made the promise. What matters is the fact that politicking in India has become completely caste driven. Efforts to correct the wrongs of yesteryears in the form of 'Affirmative Action' have further widened the cracks in Indian society. And people are prepared to go on the warpath at the slightest hint of provocation. Jaipur, Bharatpur, Dausa, Sawai Madhopur, Alwar, Jhalawar, Dholpur. And the fire spread as far as Delhi, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon, Meerut, Saharanpur, Kanpur.
The signs are really ominous. What do we want? As many nations as there are castes? The India of the Reliances and Kingfishers and Wipros has awakened into the 21st century, with help from Manmohan Singh. Who'll awaken the Gujjars, Meenas, Lodh Rajputs, Jats, Yadavs and their lot? Who'll take the entire country as a whole into the 21st century?
No comments:
Post a Comment