yfe crusader september 2008

11
VoteIndia.IN campaign is a completely free service, designed in the surge of patri- otism with no intentions of making profits. Help and con- tribution in any form from your side is always wel- comed. The Team can be reached at [email protected], [email protected] - Ankit Shrivastava We believe that India deserves to be in hands of people who are capable of leading it. Good governance starts from votingfor the right people. If we take up this responsibility towards government, the government is bound to take up its respon- sibility towards us. Hence, we have come up with this initiative where we want to inculcate the impor- tance of politics and the im- portance of voting, within the masses. About the project : The project is non- profitable, non-charitable, politically neutral effort initi- ated by a group of young citi- zens who wish to bring a change. The aims of the project are as below : 1) Increasing the Voter turn- out by encouraging and assist- ing users. 2) Encourage people to con- sider "Good Governance" as a criteria for choosing their candidate. The registration process is simpler than applying for a credit card. All you have to do is: 1. Visit www.voteindia.in 2. Pin point your home on the map interface provided 3. Enter your contact details. With these simple steps, you become a registered user of VoteIndia.IN Now comes a question, that how shall this help the nation? The answer lies with the innovativeness of the cam- paign. Before the elections you shall receive an email delivering the entire details of the candidates of your con- stituency, thus making it sim- pler for you to decide the right candidate for your own constituency. And once smart people like you start electing smart people for individual constituencies, we can soon have smart people at the cen- ter making smart rules for the nation. The main intention of VoteIndia.IN is to encourage the educated masses to pull up their sleeves, and go out and elect the candidate of their choice based on the criteria of "good governance". Writing on the Wall !! INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Vote India 1 Terrorism & Kashmir Editor’s Pick ! 2 AmulVoice of India 4 Racism in the Classroom 6 To De- Essentialize the caste 8 Has Educa- tion made us more self- centered ? 10 Letters to the editor 11 YFE Crusader ISSUE1I, SEPTEMBER 2008 WELCOME TO YFE YFE Crusader enters its second issue !! YFE Crusader - Voice of Hope for the Anti- Reservation Movement Join Youth For Equality today Fight against Reservations “Reservation on the basis of caste will not only divide the country but also hurt the self-esteem of the people.” -- His Holiness Sri Sri Ravishankar of The Art Of Living Vote India: An Initiative For Change !!

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Page 1: Yfe Crusader September 2008

VoteIndia.IN campaign

is a completely free service,

designed in the surge of patri-otism with no intentions of

making profits. Help and con-

tribution in any form from

your side is always wel-

comed.

The Team can be reached at

[email protected],

[email protected]

- Ankit Shrivastava

E

h

e

e

d

i

We believe that India

deserves to be in hands of

people who are capable of

leading it. Good governance starts from voting—for the

right people. If we take up

this responsibility towards

government, the government

is bound to take up its respon-

sibility towards us.

Hence, we have come up

with this initiative where we

want to inculcate the impor-

tance of politics and the im-portance of voting, within the

masses.

About the project:

The project is non-

profitable, non-charitable,

politically neutral effort initi-

ated by a group of young citi-

zens who wish to bring a

change.

The aims of the project are as below:

1) Increasing the Voter turn-

out by encouraging and assist-

ing users.

2) Encourage people to con-

sider "Good Governance" as a

criteria for choosing their

candidate.

The registration process is simpler than applying for a

credit card. All you have to do

is:

1. Visit www.voteindia.in

2. Pin point your home on the

map interface provided

3. Enter your contact details.

With these simple steps, you become a registered user

of VoteIndia.IN

Now comes a question,

that how shall this help the

nation?

The answer lies with the

innovativeness of the cam-

paign. Before the elections

you shall receive an email

delivering the entire details of

the candidates of your con-

stituency, thus making it sim-pler for you to decide the

right candidate for your own

constituency. And once smart

people like you start electing

smart people for individual

constituencies, we can soon

have smart people at the cen-

ter making smart rules for the

nation.

The main intention of VoteIndia.IN is to encourage

the educated masses to pull up

their sleeves, and go out and

elect the candidate of their

choice based on the criteria of

"good governance".

Writing on the Wall !!

I N S I D E

T H I S I S S U E :

Vote India 1

Terrorism

& Kashmir

Editor’s Pick !

2

Amul– Voice

of India

4

Racism in the

Classroom

6

To De-

Essentialize

the caste

8

Has Educa-

tion made us

more self-

centered ?

10

Letters to

the editor

11

YFE Crusader I S S U E 1 I , S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 8

W E L C O M E

T O Y F E

YFE Crusader

enters its

second issue !!

YFE Crusader

- Voice of

Hope for the

Anti-

Reservation

Movement

Join Youth

For Equality

today

Fight against

Reservations

“Reservation on the

basis of caste will

not only divide the

country but also

hurt the self-esteem

of the people.”

-- His Holiness Sri Sri

Ravishankar of The

Art Of Living

Vote India: An Initiative For Change !!

Page 2: Yfe Crusader September 2008

P A G E 2

―22 % of seats in

the lower house of

Parliament & State

legislatures are

reserved for

Scheduled Castes

& Tribal groups‖

- Reuters

(April 2008)

Terrorism & Kashmir

A CRPF Inspector General

was transferred from Srina-

gar, on 13th August, 2008

after an uproar in the Kash-mir valley, led by the terror-

ists and their supporters,

against alleged excesses by

the central para-military

force. He was also allegedly

denied a Police medal, for

fear of controversy and

likely protests in the valley.

There is nothing new, in

this kind of approach, as the decisions makers are safe in

air conditioned atmosphere

somewhere else. The people

facing dire situation of life

and death and standing be-

tween chaos and order, are

on the spot. The former

judge and some times pan-

der to the local sentiments

by sacrificing the people on

the spot, hoping, that it will

buy them peace and retrieve the situation. It is, simple

application of band aid,

where a surgical operation

is called for it.

A Former Governor of J&K

had lost his job, in 1990, for

taking a tough stand against

the anti Indian and anti na-

tional elements. Neither his

transfer did, and nor the transfer of the IGP CRPF is

going to normalise the

situation and convert the

anti national elements and

terrorists into normal citi-

zens. On the contrary, it

will encourage, such ele-

ments, that they can do any-

thing and get away.

Wherever the Government

of the day, has fallen for appeasement and compro-

mise on the basic values, it

has invited more and more

trouble. Terrorism in valley

flourishes and thrives or

remains under check, in

direct proportion, to the political will and strength to

deal with the same effec-

tively.

It commenced, with the

kidnapping of the daughter

of a former Home Minister,

who is also a former Chief

Minister of Jammu and

Kashmir. To get her re-

leased, the Government of the day, released five

dreaded terrorists. It em-

boldened them, leading to

their much applauded free-

dom, possibly with some

ransom, money, though

there is no confirmation of

this report. It was enough,

to start a series of chain

reactions in valley from

1988. I am an eye witness

to that part of the history, as I was working at that time

as Inspector General of the

Central Reserve Police

Force, in Srinagar.

The tendency to under

play, has led, to the terror-

ists to openly dictating the

people , about using of Pur-

daha by the women, closure

of beauty parlours and cine-mas houses, and raising pro

Pakistan slogans.

The Prime Minister has

given a laudable call, from

the ramparts of red fort on

15th August, 2008 to shed

communalism. But unfortu-

nately, the whole agitation,

in valley is based on the

communal lines. However

and how much we may wish, communalism of one

community generates com-

munalism in others, in ac-

cordance with the Newton‟s

law, which enunciates, that

every action has an equal

and opposite reaction. Oth-erwise, how hordes of peo-

ple led by the terrorists,

could start a march towards

Pakistan for crossing the

border. The Government

should have come out, with

the statement, that those

who cross illegally, would

not be allowed, entry back

into India, without the In-

dian Passports, as is appli-cable to all Indians going

abroad and returning home.

A series of misconceived

policies, or so called people

to people contact, have

brought about this situation.

Otherwise, how could a

partner in coalition plead

for the Pakistan currency to

be allowed to be used in

J&K. Lack of clear policy

and molly coddling, has cause the present chaos.

It would be wrong to say

that transferring 39.88 hec-

tares of forest land to Amar-

nath shrine board and its

reaction in Jammu has led

to the present situation.

The terrorists have been

going, all out, to create dis-turbances and problems as

per the following report of

J& K Government which

says;

“A total of 42,147 people,

including 20,647 militants

and 5,024 security person­

nel, were killed in the state

between Janu­ary 1990 and

the middle of February

2007… Violence left 33,885 people, includ­ing

12,124 security personnel

and 21,659 civilians, in-

Y F E C R U S A D E R

Joginder Singh, IPS (Retd.)

General

Category

Page 3: Yfe Crusader September 2008

P A G E 3 I S S U E 1 I , S E P T E M B E R

jured during the same period in

the state..

11,221 civilians were killed by militants and another 1,678 lost

their lives in grenade and Im-

provised Ex­plosive Device

explosions, while 173 civil­ians

were killed when they were

caught in clashes between mili-

tants. A total of 3,404 civilians

were killed in cross-firing inci­

dents between security forces

and mili­tants…The highest

number of 1,438 civilians were

killed in 1996, the year elections

were held after a gap of seven year. While the highest number

of 3,602 army and other para-

military per­sonnel lost their

lives fighting militants, Jammu

and Kashmir police lost 537 per

­sonnel since January 1990. As

many as 438 Special Police Of-

ficers engaged by police in the

counter-insurgency operations

were killed.127 Village Defense

Committee members were killed fighting militants in the state.

The highest number of 613 se-

curity per­sonnel were killed in

a single year in 2001.”

Now the question arises, as to

what can be done. Also whether

what is being done is sufficient.

In 1990, the midnight protests

were sparked off, by the calls

given by given 1100 Mosques,

which had installed loud speak-

ers to call the faithful to prayers.

Loudspeakers in mosques, then

and even now are being em-

ployed, to give calls for anti national activities and asking

the people to gather in the

streets or at a particular spot.

The then Governor had ordered

the disconnection of the loud

speakers, which itself led to

protests.

It is a fact that many

terrorists take shelter in the reli-

gious places of their respective

religion. During my recent visit to the USA, I was told that the

police had installed CCTV cam-

eras in mosques to monitor any

such possible activity, with the

cooperation of the Muslim com-

munity and their religious lead-

ers. This is to prevent any alle-

gation of forcible entry of the

Police, which may cause dese-

cration.

In a situation like this, which

has been highly communalized,

it is impossible to get any kind

of evidence to prove anybody‟s

anti national activities, as no

witness would be willing to come forth to depose, even if a

witness protection act, is there.

Infact, at present there is no

witness protection act available.

Margret Thatcher used to say

the publicity is the oxygen of

terrorism. Any kind of publicity,

which eulogizes terrorism,

should be discouraged, if not

exactly banned.

Terrorist leaders, their support-

ers and sympathizers should be

immobilized by using the pre-

sent laws and detained outside

J&K. The Government has an-

nounced pension scheme for the

families of the terrorists, on the

grounds that it is not their fault,

if their children have become

terrorists. This approach is

fraught with danger and sooner

it is given up, the better it is. Why only Kashmiris should be

selected for this government

munificence. Such people in

Punjab, Chattisgarh, Assam and

other North Eastern States, have

similar claims. It should not

become a scheme to help the

anti national and traitorous ele-

ments.

Many so called intellec-tual talk about referendum in

valley. (Contd. next page)

By YFE candidates

Contested for Delhi University

Student Union elections

"CM of Uttar

Pradesh

tentatively

extended lower

caste job quotas

into the private

sector‖

- in Feb, 2008

EQUALITY RACE IN

DELHI

Page 4: Yfe Crusader September 2008

P A G E 4

―Positively, my

social philosophy

may be said to

be enshrined in

three words:

Liberty, Equality

& Fraternity ‖

- B.R.Ambedkar

Civil Society

Organizations —

Saviours

Terrorism & Kashmir (continued....)

With Pakistan having

hijacked the anti national

elements, any referendum

or election will be irrelevant at present. The first priority

is to drive the Pakistani

terrorists out of the valley

and send them to the coun-

try of their origin. The Gov-

ernment should stop all

talks of dialogue, with so

called militants, who are

nothing more than front

men of Pakistan. Only a

tough approach will send the right signal that Govern-

ment means business. The

Government is spending

much more on Kashmir

than on other States.

A Kashmiri gets eight

times more money from the

Centre than citizens from

other states. While per cap-

ita Central assistance to

other states moved from Rs

576.24 in 1992-93 to Rs

1,137 in 2000-1, that of the

Kashmiri spiralled from Rs

3,197 to Rs 8,092. To get a perspective, translate the

numbers: this cash, man-

aged by the state Govern-

ment, were to be dispatched

by money order, each Kash-

miri family (with five mem-

bers on an average) would

get Rs 40,460 every year.

In 2001-2, the state spent

Rs 7,516.6 crore of which Rs 4,577 crore-or 60 paise

of every rupee spent-came

from the Centre. The state's

non-development expendi-

ture was Rs 2,829 crore

including a salary bill of Rs

1,193 crore while its own

revenues were barely Rs

1,095 crore. The state could

not have paid even the

wages of its employees

without the Centre's help.

It is reported that the bene-

fits of central funds have

remained confined only to about 150 families in Kash-

mir and the rest of the

money has disappeared or

not spent or improperly

spent or drained off. The

benefits of Central aid have

not reached the common

man, who has not devel-

oped a stake in India. The

Government priority num-

ber one should be to root out corruption. With these

steps, it should be possible

to send a right message both

to Pakistan and its hench-

men and people in the val-

ley.

The Author is former Di-

rector Central Bureau Of

Investigation, INDIA

Y F E C R U S A D E R

AMUL— The Taste & Voice of India !!

Civil Society Organizations like “Youth For Equality” are the „Voice of Hope‟ for millions

of citizens in India, who know that they are being discriminated against, but do not know

how to fight for their rights. YFE voices the concerns and plea of these people.

In this noble venture, we have been consistently supported by Voices from Corporate India, who know what it takes to reach to the top. Industrialists like Rahul Bajaj & Narayana

Murthy have always been quite vocal about this. But no voice seems to match the VOICE

OF AMUL in terms of impacting the general public. Since 1967, Amul has been playing

the role of a social observer. It is indeed a great support for YFE initiatives when Amul

decides to talk about Quotas & Reservations !!

Page 5: Yfe Crusader September 2008

P A G E 5 I S S U E 1 I , S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 8

Hunger Strike

Maulana Azad Medical College

New Delhi

Imagine the impact these Hoardings have on the general public. People love them and they become the favor-

ite topic of discussion for the whole of the week. They are almost a part of our culture. I have seen an old lady

make an album to amuse her grand children !! The right dose of social awareness laced with clean fun.

For 40 odd years the Utterly Butterly girl has managed to keep her fanatic fan following intact. It is the long-

est and probably the most successful campaign in the

world. And it rightfully is vying for a place in the

Guinness Book Of World Records for being the long-

est ad campaign ever.

The establishment of Amul is known as the White

Revolution.

White Revolution is but a small part of the Amul

Legacy. A Social Revolution has been the mainstay of the legend of Amul !!

Ravishankar Duvvuri, MBA-2nd Year,

Narsee Monjee Institute of Mgmt. Studies,

Mumbai

Page 6: Yfe Crusader September 2008

P A G E 6

Mid-Day Cartoon

- Mid-Day is a

popular daily tabloid

in Mumbai

Racism In The Classroom The much hyped

proposal of Shri Arjun

Singh's caste based reserva-

tion system in higher educa-tion is not the correct and

proper approach to solve

the problem of socio-

economic inequality. All

the right thinking nationalist

people have been very

strongly opposing this divi-

sive idea of reserving quo-

tas for OBCs in all the insti-

tutions of higher learning.

After getting the

nod of the cabinet and the

Supreme Court of India,

Mr. Arjun Singh is now in

his full colours. No body

has got the guts and courage

to tune the quotas on the

casteless and secular lines

or to speak against the caste

based quota system. Now

the Human Resource Devel-

opment Ministry can be renamed as Human Reser-

vation & Division Ministry.

Need of the day is

to implement on alternative

affirmative action policy,

whose benefit must reach

genuinely deprived sec-

tions. This policy should be

sensitive to the all type of

backwards and disadvanta-geous people whose base is

not limited to caste and

communal considerations

alone. Another thing must

be kept in mind that the

standard and excellence is

not compromised or diluted

at any cost.

The current reser-

vation policy aims only to

increase the number of cer-

tain caste and communities which are connected with

the numerically powerful

vote banks. Low represen-

tation of groups in higher

education has no co-relation

with any type of backward-

ness. The real disadvan-

taged and backwards are

those who cannot even

dream to visit a primary or

secondary school and they belong to all caste because

they cannot afford any type

of education. Hardly eight

percent of all Indian youth

go for higher education,

Remaining ninety two per-

cent belong to all caste and

communities. Hence quotas

in higher education cannot

eradicate the socio-

economic inequality. Quota

system has only increased the divisive trends in the

country. Caste and religion

based reservation system is

a fraud in the name of so-

cial justice.

In the country no

honest study has been con-

ducted to decide and objec-

tive case study of reserva-

tion policy. The data used by and cited, have got no

scientific basis for such an

important policy. Moreover

most of our sociologists and

historians are also con-

nected and linked with the

vested interest groups who

have floated false and fabri-

cated theories about repres-

sion and backwardness.

They can not be treated as

honest and impartial think-ers and academicians. Ma-

jority of them are ABCD

( American Born Corrupt

Desi ) category. This pol-

icy is socially and culturally

divisive. This system has

destroyed the multicultural

fiber of our nationalism.

Moreover the con-

stitution guarantees the right to equality to all the

citizens under law. It is the

responsibility of the state to

enact such policy that does

not distinguish between its

citizens on the basis of caste

and religion. But in prac-

tice, the country's governing

system is the most racist

system, which has con-

verted the nation into an

ethnic-state, where caste and communal identities are

the most powerful tags. In

all walks of life our system

practice apartheid policy.

Implementing af-

firmative action should not

compromise the institu-

tional excellence and im-

portance of merit in public

life, but now a days excel-lence or merit is a curse.

The current reservation

system does not clearly

adopt even the requirement

of any minimum standard

or entry criteria.

Y F E C R U S A D E R

Page 7: Yfe Crusader September 2008

P A G E 7

Provision of fixed quo-

tas is also an attack on the

autonomy of institutions to fix

the minimum efficiency stan-dard level which openly negates

the overall working environ-

ment and classroom excellence.

For example new and advanced

syllabus may not be covered as

these sections of the class may

not be able to cope. Very re-

cently University Grant Com-

mission abolished the require-

ment of NET for lectureship

because SC/ST category stu-dents find it very difficult to

clear the NET. So national SC/

ST commission recommended t

abolish the NET. Similarly Na-

tional Minority Commission has

asked the HRD to abolish Eng-

lish at primary and secondary

level, because minority (read

Muslim) students are generally

very poor in their understanding

of English.

This type of quota sys-

tem damages the institutional

excellence and a negative and

inferiority syndrome is devel-

oped in the psyche of reserved

category sections that without

quotas they cannot survive.

Disadvantage groups should be

encouraged to raise their stan-

dard instead of being depend-

ence on the clutches of quotas.

Arbitrarily lowering

and favoring the admission stan-

dard for one caste over other

group of citizens as has been

done recently in IITs, is highly

unfair and it creates discrimina-

tory inequality and offends the

idea of just and merit based so-

ciety. Need and demand for

merit based education is bound

to grow as the nation enters into

an increasingly knowledge based world. It will be highly

unjust and discriminatory to fix

quotas for one group and deny

equal right and opportunity to

another group of people who are

otherwise more deserving and

meritorious.

Indian education sys-

tem has won world wide recog-

nition because of brilliant and meritorious students of all

castes, religion, linguistic and

ethnic groups who are embed-

ded to the high pursuit of

knowledge.

But the present UPA

government which is highly

castist and communal in its ap-

proach is bent on dividing the

society on caste and communal

lines, only to consolidate the vote bank. As a result of this

greed of vote banks, all the po-

litical parties are trying to beat

other in this quota madness, to

include newer and newer groups

in this quota race. Now in some

states like Tamilnadu and Kar-

natka, nearly ninety percent of

the total population is in the grip

of quota. One fail to understand

any sane logic for this quota race.

It is the duty of the

government in national interest

to preserve and respect the

autonomy of institution. Gov-

ernment should constitute an

impartial commission, consisted

of genuine and honest scholars

and thinkers who are not aligned

to any interest or pressure

group, to look into the entire

issue of affirmative action. But seeing the fact at the moment,

nation is badly fragmented on

caste, communal and regional

lines resulting in plethora of

political parties, who have no

other developmental issue ex-

cept this quota madness. If this

suicidal policy is not mended,

the coming days will be very

torturous for the nation.

- Dr. Y.K. Sharma,

Delhi University

―In the end anti-

black, anti-

female, and all

forms of

discrimination

are equivalent to

the same thing–

Anti-humanism

—Shirley

Chisholm (the

first African –

American

woman to win a

seat in the

United States

Congress)

I S S U E 1 I , S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 8

Page 8: Yfe Crusader September 2008

P A G E 8

Visarjan –Immersion

of the idol

In full Pomp and

Splendor !!

Lalbaug cha Raja—

Mumbai’s most

popular Ganapati

idol in Mumbai

To De-Essentialize The Caste It is support and

active participation of the

educated youth of India that

enables YFE to continue its struggle against the discrep-

ancies of the caste-based

reservation policies of the

government. We are mak-

ing attempts to explore the

issue from its width and

depth and to analyze differ-

ent aspects of reservation

policies with the guidance

of sociologists and experts.

We always wel-come intellectual inputs,

suggestions and questions

from all of you and we hope

that all these discussions

will contribute towards clar-

ity of concept and realiza-

tion of our cause of building

an Equal Nation and a bet-

ter tomorrow. As has been

described in our pamphlets

of 18 & 19th June 2006,

there is need to take af-firmative actions to uplift

the deprived sections of the

society.

But at the same

time the proposed Multiple

Deprivation System (MDS)

has clearly noted that one

should not incorporate

caste. All the possible dep-

rivations that can be associ-

ated with caste and which can hold back an individual

from social, educational and

economic progress have

been accounted for in MDS.

Simultaneously efforts

should be made to de-

essentialise this orthodox

system which has often

been a divisive factor. We

also uphold the point that if further caste-based reserva-

tion is allowed it will not

only be detrimental to the

society but will also be dis-

astrous for the integrity of

the nation.

Friends it is neces-

sary to understand why it is

detrimental to organize on

the basis of caste and how

caste based reservation poli-cies gives wrong incentives

to the society to perpetuate

the caste as an institution.

While the examples are

pervasive, here we are cit-

ing a few:

1) In Karnataka, the

Havanur Commission re-

moved Lingayats from the

list of backward-classes.

Venkataswami Commission

removed the Vokkalingas too. Violence followed. The

government restored both to

the list. Ironically these two

castes are among the most

powerful, always holding

political power in the state.

2) In Tamil Nadu,

the Vanniyar Sangham

claimed that they constitute

fifth of the state‟s popula­

tion and hence deserved exclusive reservation of

20%.They launched violent

agitation in 1987. This trig-

gered off a fresh wave of

similar demands from other

caste based organizations.

The population figure pro-

jected by each of them

when added up, far ex-ceeded the total population

of the state. During presi-

dent rule in the state in

1988, the Vanniyars were

excluded from the list of

most backward class. Later

the Vanniyars gave ultima-

tum to Karunanidhi who

came in power in 1989.

Finally Karunanidhi gov-

ernment announced 20% reservation for the most

backward castes, including

th e Vanniyars . Ka -

runanidhi‟s caste was also

among the most backward

castes.

The above exam-

ples explicitly indicate that

the incentive of caste based

reservation how often has

drawn the ugly figure of

division on the face of soci-ety using caste lines. Ironi-

cally it was muscle power

and not the deprivation that

has been the real determi-

nant of the backwardness.

Whichever caste has got

organized, whichever has

gained clout has got itself

anointed „backward‟.

Secondly the num-

ber of backward castes thus anointed has continued to

swell. Studies, records that

the list of backward castes

in Tamil Nadu grew from

11 in 1883, to 39 in 1893, to

46 in 1903, to 122 in1913,

Y F E C R U S A D E R

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P A G E 9

to 122 in 1913, to 131 in 1923,

to 182 in 1933, to 238 in 1943,

to 270 in 1953. The Mandal

commission listed 288 for that state. The Mandal Commission

itself shows that castes have

gone on being added to lists of

OBCs not because successive

surveys have chanced upon

castes whose backwardness was

hitherto unknown. New castes

have had to be included because

they have acquired power and

clout

Similarly, examples can be cited as how deeply the caste-based

incentives perpetuate in the po-

litical system that it can hardly

be revised or excluded. In 1965

B N Lakur Commission was

formed to review the list of SC/

STs, and it was decided that 28

Scheduled castes and 14 tribes

have achieved relatively for-

ward status and they should be

removed from the list. A hue

and cry followed. In 1967 a Bill was introduced to amend the list

according to the Commission‟s

recommendations. But we are

not surprised that it did not ex-

clude those relatively forward

castes/tribes. The Bill was re-ferred to joint parliamentary

committee and afterwards the

Bill was passed during 1976

with many changes but NO EX-

CLUSION as recommended by

the Commission or JPC.

Unfortunately as the country is

progressing as proclaimed by

successive governments, more

and more castes keep becoming

backward and there is little hope that the same would ever be-

come forward if the existing

incentive structure continues,

however on the other side there

is every possibility and indica-

tions that the system is moving

from protective discrimination

to reverse discrimination. It is

true that caste system has been a

reality with unpleasant conse-

quences but it is hypocrisy to

say that this can be removed by using the same (caste based

reservation) as instrument.

Friends we believe that being

the common citizen of India we

have all right to question the

wisdom of the highest authori-ties of the Nation who have au-

thored and sanctified the present

policy of caste based reservation

and the consequent fissiparous

incentive structure it generates

in the society.

- Article by

Jagadamba Prasad, Ph.D.

Environmental Science,

JNU,

Prabhu Prasad Mishra,

Ph.D. Internacional Trade

and Development, JNU

and

Narendra Sahoo, Ph.D.

Environmental Science,

JNU

―The doctrine

of equality !

There exists no

more

poisonous

poison; for it

seems to be

preached by

justice itself,

while it is the

end of justice‖

- Friedrich

Nietzsche

I S S U E 1 I , S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 8

PROTEST MODE

Human Chain

Chennai

Page 10: Yfe Crusader September 2008

P A G E 1 0

“You have taken the country to the edge of

caste wars ..

We have problems if

caste is defined to

enshrine

casteism in our

country.

We have problems if

the weakest amongst

the classes are not helped and if the

weakest among the

minority religions are

not helped.

The Congress cannot

stand by and watch

this nation being

divided for the

political convenience

of one individual.”

- Rajiv Gandhi,

Lok Sabha, 6th of

September 1990

Blast from the past

Has Education Made Us More Self-Centered? THE DICTIONARY

defines 'education' as the act

or process of imparting or

acquiring general knowl-edge, developing the pow-

ers of reasoning and judge-

ment, and generally prepar-

ing oneself or others intel-

lectually for adult life. The

definition sounds very good

but seems to have lost its

meaning today. What I have

observed and felt in the last

few years of my life is that

most of us have become indifferent towards the soci-

ety and nation as a whole.

As I tried to find the rea-

sons behind it, one thing

was for sure that the prime

reason is 'education'.

It is true that education

is of great importance and

we cannot move ahead in

this highly competitive

world without education, but when this education

makes people indifferent,

the meaning of education

ceases to exist. When a per-

son starts his education, he

is more affected by the hap-

penings in the society and

tries to resist the wrong

things. Eventually, educa-

tion makes him analytical.

He analyses all the prob-lems and takes action only

when something bothers

him. Unless that matter

concerns him, he is happy.

How many educated

people vote today? Not

enough and that is why this

section of people does not

feature in the list of strate-

gies of political parties.

This group blames the gov-ernment/organisation/ bu-

reaucracy for everything,

but does not vote. Why?

What was your reaction when you saw a blind man

on the roadside waiting for

someone to let him cross

the road. You were in your

car with your friends and

you thought of helping him

out but something stopped

you, isn't it? What was that

thing? You might have

thought that getting out of

the car just to help the blind man will not suit you. And

you told yourself that some-

one will definitely help the

blind man.

There was a protest/

strike in the wake of some

wrong policy of the govern-

ment. The group heading

the protest requested you to

come down and join hands

for the cause, which was definitely not their cause

alone. But you relaxed in

your drawing room watch-

ing television and told your-

self that I am getting my

bread and butter, I can af-

ford the education of my

children abroad and this

issue is not going to have its

impact on me.

So let it be! Why to

sweat out for others?

Many of us don't want

to join defence forces, gov-

ernment jobs, civil services.

Why? The reason we tell

ourselves is that there is

hardly any money, politics,

lack of opportunity (though

I doubt it) etc.

One dangerous trend,

which is emerging from the

economic liberalisation and

globalisation is that money

has replaced every little thing today. You study

cases of depression in the

country and you will notice

that in majority of the cases

money is the main factor.

Education has made us

more animal friendly and

environment friendly, but

has taken us away from the

human values and from

acting for something which we believe is correct.

There is so much furore

when a pug is made to run

after a bus but we turn a

blind eye when a group of

people parade a woman

naked in a village.

- Rishabh Srivastava,

Mumbai

Y F E C R U S A D E R

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P A G E 1 1 I S S U E 1 I , S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 8

It‟s indeed a matter of immense

pleasure to introduce you to the

second issue of YFE Crusader. I

am delighted to share the re-sponse of our readers, which

motivates me to increase the

frequency and dimension of this

paper and I am confident that,

this initiative will lead YFE to

achieve the Goal of making

India a true knowledge based

society.

I hope this e-paper will be of

help in making people aware and updated regarding our ac-

tivities and efforts in the direc-

tion of EQUALITY.

I appeal all like minded citizens

of this nation to join hands to

fight against caste based reser-

vation.

As a part of our awareness cam-paign against ill effects of pre-

sent reservation policy we have

taken this initiative, where we

welcome the scholarly contribu-

tions from all the well meaning

citizens who oppose caste based

reservation. This e-paper will be

made available on our website.

Articles can be mailed to YFE

Crusader at

[email protected]

Write in to YFE Crusader and make your voice heard by all.

- Editor

The editor can be reached at

[email protected]

E

concession tracing back to the geneal-

ogy of some unknown deprived forefa-

thers.

Wish to instigate this movement in

BHU

Sir,

Myself Sudhanshu Thakore, and my

friends, students of IT-BHU Varanasi,

CREAMY LAYER OBC STU-

DENT GETS THROUGH IIM-A

UNDER OBC QUOTA

Sir,

If an annual income of Rs.7 lakhs is

the upper limit to fix the criteria for

reservation, then who would be ex-

cluded from availing these benefits?

What is more surprising is that a

student with both parents in high

income white collared posts availing

are willing to instigate the students of

BHU Varanasi.

We realize that YFE is a very subtle force in this region and we wish to

infuse new life to this movement, by

involving an immensely capable and

educated youth brigade of Benaras

Hindu University

LETS BE THE CHANGE !!

―YFE wishes u

a Peaceful &

Prosperous

Ganesh

Chaturti‖

Voice from Chennai

- Meenakshi

Voice from Varanasi

- Sudhanshu Thakore

www.yfemovement.com