Article 15 : Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.
Now see the first constitutional amendment of Independent India in 1951.
Article 15(4) : Nothing in this article ( read Article 15 ) or in clause ( 2 ) of Article 29 shall prevent the State from making any special provision for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.
Fast forward to 1992.SC decides that reservation in government jobs based on "caste" is perfectly constitutional thanks to the first constitutional amendment.
But what happened to original articles caveat ?
No problem,there is a leeway for socially and educationally backward "classes". And castes do make classes,don't they ?
They do.But didn't Article 15 explicitly prohibited discrimination on grounds of "castes" .
If the Parliament compromising of stalwarts of Indian Independence movement and some of the original makers of Constitution through Articles desired to give leeway to other "castes" nothing could have stopped them from writing the term socially and educationally backward "castes" instead of "classes". After all they have provided the leeway for Scheduled "Castes". You simply can not question their wit or knowledge of social conditions or constitutional rights for the Law Minister was none other than one of the greatest champions of backward empowerment and social reforms,Dr. B R Ambedkar.
But problem is Dr. Ambedkar or PM Jawharlal Nehru were not interested in exploiting the caste division among Hindus and garnering votes on the plank of reservation. They were interested in actual social uplift of any "class" that lags behind. The parliamentarians of 1991 decided to change the good great English forever when they decided that "class" from this day onward will mean only and only "caste". After all, I have not heard of any other "class" getting benefit out of Article 15(4) except and except few "castes" as decided by Mandal Commission.
Next is why the media and court played along ? Simply because the sheer force of number is sufficient to silence anyone critical of this system. By simple arithmetic calculation, 52% of OBC , 15% of SC and 7.5% of ST do enjoy reservation in India having a population of almost 125 crores. This transforms to more than 93 crore people. No one can show enough gumption to transform this saga from a right-based reservation to need-based. You can not simply snatch a right being enjoyed by 93 crore people.
But what about the rest ? Roughly, 33 crore people. Are all of them rich and affluent as the mainstream media regularly writes ? Are they scrambling for quota only since they are not having a good time due to agricultural distress and economic slowdown ? Does "equality", our fundamental right according to Article 16 not a necessary part of their existence ? If economic well being was everything wont everyone scramble to live in Communist China rather than a poor but free and democratic nation. Yet people lay down their life to protect this very freedom and democracy.
In Indira Sawhney case, apart from holding "caste" based reservation constitutional,SC categorically ruled out reservation in "promotions" saying it violates Right to Equality ( Article 16 ) . But still allowed it to go on for five years ( Why? ). Does already not much have been learnt from dark old days of emergency to protect our fundamental rights ?
But this did not end just here. Yesterday, Thawar Chand Gehlot, Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment proudly declared that government is making bill to bring reservation in "promotions". Opposition will play happily along. They will move a constitutional amendment bill probably adding a new Article 16 (5) reading Nothing in this article ( read Article 16 ) shall prevent the government from making any special provision for promotion of socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.For a sample,you can read original Article 335 and the change thereof through eighty-second constitutional amendment act.
But why this farce ? Why not simply outlaw Article 16 itself ? After all, Right to Property was discarded from our fundamental rights list. Move out Right to Equality too. If upper castes are second-class citizens of this country, just treat them so. Why this whole big play of constitution,parliament,amendment and court ?
What was their crime ? That an ancient law-maker had divided the society into caste and it was discriminatory in nature. Are not the modern law-makers doing just the same thing ? There is no way to determine whether Manusmiriti was followed in words and spirit. After all we can clearly see how our present day rights and constitution are being upheld. There is no way one correct the mistakes of time gone by but every ancient society was discriminatory. The greatest champion of human rights,USA,battled racism a few decades ago. But they did not end up discriminating against present white population. You don't treat a rapist son with scorn,why to blame someone for ages gone by ?
A secular state should be secular in words and spirits. No one desires to protect casteism in this country. Using constitution to that effect would be disastrous for this country. After all a lot of ancient texts exist supporting equality of all men, and not only men but women too. It is true that the nation delved into superstition,anarchy,ignorance and casteism. But this should not stop us from making this nation great again. Kamasutra around 2000 years ago outlawed marital violence. We as a nation are still trying to come with terms to that. Such protections now exist only in very advanced countries. The recent furor over comments by Maneka Gandhi, Minister of Women and Child Development is a jolt reminder. Granting access to a solitary temple through intervention of court wont we of much help. Modernity is the greatest attack on casteism as recorded by Jawaharlal Nehru in Discovery of India. Let this ancient demon be slayed by the giant-killer time itself. And most importantly, if you can not provide protection to people enjoying their basic right to have their partner of their choice from the tyranny of khap panchayat, what is the point of having all this laws and cops. Young men and women marrying out of their castes and the biggest guarantors of equality. Do stand with them. Make bridges, don't exploit the caste divisions. Khap panchayats does it illegally, our politicians demanding votes based on caste reservations do it legally under the watchful eyes of both election commission and the honourable courts.
Now see the first constitutional amendment of Independent India in 1951.
Article 15(4) : Nothing in this article ( read Article 15 ) or in clause ( 2 ) of Article 29 shall prevent the State from making any special provision for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.
Fast forward to 1992.SC decides that reservation in government jobs based on "caste" is perfectly constitutional thanks to the first constitutional amendment.
But what happened to original articles caveat ?
No problem,there is a leeway for socially and educationally backward "classes". And castes do make classes,don't they ?
They do.But didn't Article 15 explicitly prohibited discrimination on grounds of "castes" .
If the Parliament compromising of stalwarts of Indian Independence movement and some of the original makers of Constitution through Articles desired to give leeway to other "castes" nothing could have stopped them from writing the term socially and educationally backward "castes" instead of "classes". After all they have provided the leeway for Scheduled "Castes". You simply can not question their wit or knowledge of social conditions or constitutional rights for the Law Minister was none other than one of the greatest champions of backward empowerment and social reforms,Dr. B R Ambedkar.
But problem is Dr. Ambedkar or PM Jawharlal Nehru were not interested in exploiting the caste division among Hindus and garnering votes on the plank of reservation. They were interested in actual social uplift of any "class" that lags behind. The parliamentarians of 1991 decided to change the good great English forever when they decided that "class" from this day onward will mean only and only "caste". After all, I have not heard of any other "class" getting benefit out of Article 15(4) except and except few "castes" as decided by Mandal Commission.
Next is why the media and court played along ? Simply because the sheer force of number is sufficient to silence anyone critical of this system. By simple arithmetic calculation, 52% of OBC , 15% of SC and 7.5% of ST do enjoy reservation in India having a population of almost 125 crores. This transforms to more than 93 crore people. No one can show enough gumption to transform this saga from a right-based reservation to need-based. You can not simply snatch a right being enjoyed by 93 crore people.
But what about the rest ? Roughly, 33 crore people. Are all of them rich and affluent as the mainstream media regularly writes ? Are they scrambling for quota only since they are not having a good time due to agricultural distress and economic slowdown ? Does "equality", our fundamental right according to Article 16 not a necessary part of their existence ? If economic well being was everything wont everyone scramble to live in Communist China rather than a poor but free and democratic nation. Yet people lay down their life to protect this very freedom and democracy.
In Indira Sawhney case, apart from holding "caste" based reservation constitutional,SC categorically ruled out reservation in "promotions" saying it violates Right to Equality ( Article 16 ) . But still allowed it to go on for five years ( Why? ). Does already not much have been learnt from dark old days of emergency to protect our fundamental rights ?
But this did not end just here. Yesterday, Thawar Chand Gehlot, Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment proudly declared that government is making bill to bring reservation in "promotions". Opposition will play happily along. They will move a constitutional amendment bill probably adding a new Article 16 (5) reading Nothing in this article ( read Article 16 ) shall prevent the government from making any special provision for promotion of socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.For a sample,you can read original Article 335 and the change thereof through eighty-second constitutional amendment act.
But why this farce ? Why not simply outlaw Article 16 itself ? After all, Right to Property was discarded from our fundamental rights list. Move out Right to Equality too. If upper castes are second-class citizens of this country, just treat them so. Why this whole big play of constitution,parliament,amendment and court ?
What was their crime ? That an ancient law-maker had divided the society into caste and it was discriminatory in nature. Are not the modern law-makers doing just the same thing ? There is no way to determine whether Manusmiriti was followed in words and spirit. After all we can clearly see how our present day rights and constitution are being upheld. There is no way one correct the mistakes of time gone by but every ancient society was discriminatory. The greatest champion of human rights,USA,battled racism a few decades ago. But they did not end up discriminating against present white population. You don't treat a rapist son with scorn,why to blame someone for ages gone by ?
A secular state should be secular in words and spirits. No one desires to protect casteism in this country. Using constitution to that effect would be disastrous for this country. After all a lot of ancient texts exist supporting equality of all men, and not only men but women too. It is true that the nation delved into superstition,anarchy,ignorance and casteism. But this should not stop us from making this nation great again. Kamasutra around 2000 years ago outlawed marital violence. We as a nation are still trying to come with terms to that. Such protections now exist only in very advanced countries. The recent furor over comments by Maneka Gandhi, Minister of Women and Child Development is a jolt reminder. Granting access to a solitary temple through intervention of court wont we of much help. Modernity is the greatest attack on casteism as recorded by Jawaharlal Nehru in Discovery of India. Let this ancient demon be slayed by the giant-killer time itself. And most importantly, if you can not provide protection to people enjoying their basic right to have their partner of their choice from the tyranny of khap panchayat, what is the point of having all this laws and cops. Young men and women marrying out of their castes and the biggest guarantors of equality. Do stand with them. Make bridges, don't exploit the caste divisions. Khap panchayats does it illegally, our politicians demanding votes based on caste reservations do it legally under the watchful eyes of both election commission and the honourable courts.
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