[Reader-list] Delhi University gets ABVP president after 8 years/reader-list Digest, Vol 62, Issue 35

[Aarti Sethi]

Dear Aditya,

I appreciate your honesty, and I am not entering this conversation with a
view to being antagonistic for no reason. But I think here are very serious
issues at stake here and therefore we should discuss and approach them in
that spirit. I have no interest in whom you choose to support for DUSU
president. That is your personal political choice, and unless it has some
bearing on what we are discussing here, i don't see why it should enter this
conversation.

However you have raised some serious questions on caste-based reservations
in this and previous mails which I think need to be addressed.

First, on the nature of the "movement" launched by you, supported by "doctor
friends":

I am sure, for instance, you know that one "mode of protest" that was
adopted by your 'doctor friends" in AIIMS was sweeping the streets. I am not
sure who thought this up, and I certainly hope it was not you, but I hope
the deep symbolic violence of this action is not lost on you.

I am sure you also know that dalit and OBC students face very severe
discrimination in medical colleges, including AIIMS. Such as separate
hostels, and till recently, eating on separate tables. Further while the
upper-caste media went to town covering the "relay-hunger strike" against
the reservations in which students fasted between breakfast and lunch, lying
on dhurries with coolers and fans for company, the OPD departements which
had been completely abandoned by these "doctors" was run by dalit and OBC
students. They also went on hunger-strike, but they did not abandon their
primary commitment to patients. I think this says a lot for the kind of
commitment they actually have for their career as doctors don't you?


The only people who can afford to ignore caste are upper-caste Hindus who
have had an informal reservation in their favour for centuries in this
country. Interestingly, when after independence there was a move to abolish
caste as part of the census questionaiire, who favoured this? The
upper-castes of course. Why? Because when an axis of inequality works in
your favour, you can afford to be outside it. And like other inequalities,
caste-based ineqaulity interpellates everyone. The fiction of the "unmarked
citizen" who enters the public sphere solely on merit is an illusion that is
underwritten by caste, class, race, gender and religion. Any attempt to
unmask this is immediately met by furious gestures of being "casteist". What
does this mean? It means that when one accurately locates the source of
discrimination and inequality, one is accused of being casteist because we
can no longer pretend that caste doesn't exist. And so powerful is this
rhetoric of "merit", as if "merit" itself is produced out of thin air, or as
if it is some essence to be found innately in human beings, that people are
considered to be less worthy human beings if they do not fall in line with
its dogmas. So don't cite the presence of obc and dalit students as part of
your "movement" as some sort of affirmation. It is not. It is falls within
the same logic as when beyonce knowles or oprah winfrey deny that race is an
axis of discrimination in America, that there is no racial discrimination.
It tells us how powerful is this rhetoric of merit, how powerful is the
illusion of "choice' of "universal citizenship".

Please realise what you are arguing for when you argue against caste-based
reservations. You are essentially arguing for a continuation of upper-case
privelege, thinly disguised as "merit".

regards
Aarti




On Fri, Sep 12, 2008 at 9:44 AM, Aditya Raj Kaul <kauladityaraj at gmail.com>wrote:

> Dear Prakash bhai,
>
>    I was honest in my previous mail and will remain so; and it would have
> been a positive change if you would have respected my honesty.
>
> I oppose caste based reservations and will remain firm with my stand. Also,
> I'm no one from 'Youth For Equality' to answer your queries. So, Kindly
> visit any of YFE Chapters and ask them there itself. Just to enligten you a
> bit, it wasn't just general category students but hundreds of SC ST and OBC
> who used to take part in protests with us. I personally know so many of
> them
> from IIT, NSIT, DU, IP etc. who used to lead our protests. You sure are
> unaware to this fact, 'why so?' that only you may be able to answer.
>
> "Who do you think was an able candidate for the position of President in
> the
> recently concluded elections of DUSU ?" - If you answer this, it would
> simplyfy your confusion. I didn't support Nupur Sharma because she was from
> ABVP, but because she had the capacity to lead and was able enough to
> become
> the DUSU President. Others in the fray, were more so a confused lot. I met
> them, SFI-AISA etc were struggling to make space in the elections. NSUI,
> even though had free flow of money from Congress, couldn't choose a better
> candidate then Sonia Sapra. I met almost all candidates and finally
> concluded on Nupur being the only positive choice. You may like to differ
> forgetting the individuals and considering only the party line, but
> unfortunately or fortunately, for me, individuals and parties are both
> equally important.
>
> I didn't betray United Students, as you may have liked, but have supported
> a
> change in the making. I still stand by that 'Hindu' statement. Some
> Individuals who don't waste time puting across allegations on others, do
> work for the students silently in the DU Campus.
>
> P.S. Even in the DU Elections; officially it isn't a party or a group
> contesting, it is actually the individuals. The parties have no authority
> or
> right given by the DU.
>
> Hope your sonfusion has been solved. Its better you shift your focus
> towards
> something constructive.
>
> Love
>
> Aditya Raj Kaul
>
> On 9/11/08, prakash ray <pkray11 at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Mr Kaul,
> >
> > Before you oppose reservations, I suggest you must demand for equal
> > distribution of property, land, and opportunities, and above all, the
> > equality of dignity and respect for each and every one. We always raise a
> > slogan against the Youth for Equality- 'Baap ki daulat chhod ke bolo tum
> > equality'. You have written that since Nupur Sharma is your friend, so
> you
> > supported her in the elections. it shows that your personal relations
> > matter
> > more than the issue you are 'fighting' for. By supporting her you have
> > betrayed the United Students, the organization you formed. In a report
> > published in The Hindu on September 4, 2006, you have said- "We believe
> > that
> > a new direction must be given to the students movement. Traditional
> student
> > unions are overly politicised and have become symptomatic of the maladies
> > of
> > our present political class. They are no longer about us, but about their
> > political masters. Our manifesto is a reflection of what we want to see
> in
> > our campuses and colleges - and in this great institution called Delhi
> > University." Now, you support such an organization.
> >
> > what should I reply or say!!
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Prakash K Ray
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