[Reader-list] Protest (on April 1st) SC's stay on OBC reservationand brainstorm about how to furtherr Social Justice!
burton cleetus
burtoncleetus at yahoo.co.uk
Tue Apr 3 10:13:02 IST 2007
Hi Vedprakash
First of all i wish to state that i am not Satianath
as you wrote, I am Burton . you say that the whole
issue of reservation'is very complicated', there is
nothing complicated or scientific about it. the only
problem was that, the peculiar situation arose by a
contigency that was necessitated by the II world war,
which led the enumerators to drop a proper caste based
census in 1941. This however became a precedent, or
rather a reason to conveniently forget the issue of
caste in census records from 1951. which ultimately
led to a situation of this sort. You point out 'some
sort of a contradiction, regarding the absence of
caste based enumeration and the caste based politics'
that emerged in the post independent india. i never
mentioned the emergence of caste based politics, in my
previous mail so that it has to contradict with what i
said in my mail.
After all these dont contradict, nor are they related
to each other at all. they are two different issues.
The only point that i was trying to raise was, should
the mistake of omitting caste based enumeration from
1951 onwards, be a justification for further mistakes
and denial of rights of the lower sections of the
society?
Burton
--- Vedprakash Sharma <vedprakash.sharma at gmail.com>
wrote:
> dear Satinath,
> this is very complicated. on one side, Govt does not
> wish to have a caste based survey, as you wrote,
> "After independence, the new political and
> bureaucratic authorities of the "new" nation decided
> to do away with
> the idea of caste on any categorization in census
> records. This was because Caste signified some thing
> derogatory in the new context. This complicated
> the whole enumeration process and thereby failed to
> arrive at any meaning full analysis on the social
> condition of different caste groups in India."
> and on the other hand, most of the political parties
> play the vote bank politics. don't you think, both
> the tendencies contradict each other?
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: burton cleetus
> To: Vedprakash Sharma ; reader-list at sarai.net
> Sent: Monday, April 02, 2007 10:48 AM
> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Protest (on April 1st)
> SC's stay on OBC reservationand brainstorm about how
> to furtherr Social Justice!
>
>
> Dear Vedprakash
>
> One of the most 'serious' objections raised by the
> SC with regard to the OBC reservation, is the
> regarding determination of the status of caste, for
> OBC reservation, based on the 1931 census. Yes the
> last census that gave any indication to the position
> of caste and their human development indices in
> india was the 1931 census. From 1881 to 1931 caste
> was an important criteria in the tabulation of the
> social position of the different sections of the
> sub-continent. However, the outbreak of the second
> world was in 1939, failed to the creation of an
> elaborate census in 1941. Hence the 1941 census
> cannot be used as an indication of any form of
> serious analysis. After independence, the new
> political and bureaucratic authorities of the "new"
> nation decided to do away with the idea of caste on
> any categorisation in census records. This was
> because Caste signified some thing derogatory in the
> new context. This complicated the whole enumeration
> process and thereby failed to arrive at any meaning
> ful analysis on the social condition of different
> caste groups in India.
>
> There is no analysis in census records from 1931
> onwards does not mean that caste as a social
> category, and the disadvantages attached to caste
> dissapeared and an 'egalitarian system was
> established' after 1931. Are the lower castes to be
> blamed for not having a caste based enumeration
> after 1931. For them the idea of the new state to
> avoid the "category of caste" in census records
> closed any analysis on their social position. In a
> sense, for them, after independence, this shift was
> like from frying pan to fire!
>
> Burton
>
> Vedprakash Sharma <vedprakash.sharma at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> it looks as if I went through the mail of a
> political leader. in my humble
> opinion, the SC has raised some very genuine
> objections. without a
> scientific analysis of the problem of
> reservation, one should not draw
> conclusions. we may have different views over it
> but the logic must prevail
> and the same should decide the criterion of the
> reservation.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Shivam Vij"
> To: "sarai list"
> Sent: Saturday, March 31, 2007 12:30 PM
> Subject: [Reader-list] Protest (on April 1st)
> SC's stay on OBC
> reservationand brainstorm about how to furtherr
> Social Justice!
>
>
> > ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> > From: Satinath Choudhary
> >
> > Dear friends from Delhi and close by,
> >
> > I am sorry for this late call! However,
> Emergency situation created
> > by our upper caste Supreme Court does not give
> us the luxury of
> > planning with plenty of time in our hands. Let
> us meet this Sunday,
> > April 1st, 2007, at Jantar Mantar, Delhi,
> between 11 am to 1 pm, and
> > accomplish a number of objectives in one shot!
> >
> > (a) Demo on Sunday, April 1st, 2007, at Jantar
> Mantar, Delhi,
> > between 11 am to 1 pm against Supreme Court's
> stay OBC's reservation
> > in higher education;
> >
> > (b) Brainstorm about declaring the month of
> April as Social Justice
> > month. Social Justice month may attract
> participation and organizing
> > on the part of STs, OBCs, and minorities, not
> many of whom have been
> > organizing Ambedkar's birth anniversary;
> >
> > (c) Brainstorm about how to further the cause
> of social justice;
> > in particular, how to democratize the court,
> especially the Supreme
> > Autocratic Upper Caste.
> >
> > (d) Brainstorm about a bigger event by the end
> of April to further
> > the cause of social justice
> >
> > If you have any suggestion with regard to any
> of the above
> > mentioned things, please feel free to call me
> (at 9350041088) or write
> > to me at satichou2 at yahoo.com.
> >
> > Dalit Voice Silver Jubilee Celebration
> Committee, Delhi invites you
> > to join a daylong discussion and debate to
> mark the occasion of 25
> > glorious years of Dalit Voice. Those of us who
> feel that Dalit Voice
> > has contributed immensely to develop a new
> dynamic Ambedkarite
> > movement would like to take this debate
> further.
> >
> > On April 8th, 2006, from 10 am to 5:30 pm, we
> all join hand to
> > facilitate Dalit Voice for its wonderful
> journey. The daylong
> > programme is organized at the Gandhi Peace
> Foundation, Deen Dayal
> > Upadhyay Marg, Near ITO, New Delhi.
> >
> > Dalit Voice Silver Jubilee Celebration
> Committee: Rajni Tilak,
> > Vidya Bhushan Rawat, Ashok Bharati, Satinath
> Choudhary, Abhimook
> > Nayak,
> >
> > Contacts: vbrawat at gmail.com,
> rajni.nacdor at gmail.com, satichou2 at yahoo.com
> > Telephone nos: 9871441261, 011-65902846,
> 22462528 (V.B.Rawat),
> > 9871514040 ( Rajni Tilak) and 9350041088
> (Satinath).
> >
> > Regards,
> > Satinath
> > _________________________________________
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