Monday, September 20, 2010

దళిత హక్కులు

DalitRights

12 comments:

Chittoor Murugesan said...

గురువు గారు,
బ్లాగ్ టైటిల్ క్రింద మీ స్లోగన్ భలే భావుంది. స్వంతమా? స్వంతమైతే మీ సౄజణాత్మకతకు జోహార్.
నచ్చి పెట్టుకుని ఉంటే మీ ఎంపికకు జోహార్

yab said...

Mahesh,
Sorry for bringing up an out of context question. I just wanted to understand your perspective on reservations.

1. How long (in terms of time or in terms of some triggers) do you think caste based reservations are needed ?

2. Do you think people born in certain castes are by birth disadvantaged in certain aspects (due to discrimination meted out for generations) and need some kind of reservation or do you think people are born equal (disadvantages in some aspects are balanced by advantages in some) but face discrimination from childhood (based on caste)in many forms, which hampers their development and so need reservation.

Kathi Mahesh Kumar said...

@yab: let me try answering your second question first.

Certain castes are deprived and continues to be so in India till date. If you are born in those castes, your are disadvantaged by birth. Socially- economically- politically you are disadvantaged. Discriminated and disowned. So the question of born equal doesn't arise at all.

When resources, access are privileges of few, those castes continue to have "cumulative advantage" of centuries.So ALL advantages are with them. Dalits have NONE.

If reservation is considered an advantage, can it compensate for centuries of disadvantage in to advantage with in 60 years is a debatable question. For me personally, it is a simple NO.

There by if you ask me honestly how much time it will be to compensate....I would say, as long as the caste system existed before 1947. May be around 2,000 years or 5,0000 years of glorious tradition and history.

However, now that we have an agreed policy called reservation by constitution and law,I shall abide by it. Till it allows reservation I have no issues.

Personally I may chose some thing else.

Weekend Politician (వీకెండ్ పొలిటీషియన్) said...

Mahesh and Yab,

hmmm.. your discussion is very interestng.

..nagarjuna.. said...

2000 or 5000 yrs of advantage....!!?? I wonder why a social change in attitude that can take place in a course of 50-100yrs or so in this present society, which is more rationale, literate than its predecessor, would ask for 2000yrs of biased advantage......

Weekend Politician (వీకెండ్ పొలిటీషియన్) said...

I share the wonder expressed by Nagarjuna.

Mahesh, are you just trying to be more emphatic or do you really mean it literally???

Kathi Mahesh Kumar said...

@Nagarjuna: I appreciate your hopeful attitude and surely would like to join.

However,unfortunately the so called rational and literate society learned much more sophisticated and dubious means of discrimination, exploitation and further marginalization. With the advent of globalization it has worsened.

So I have my own doubts about about your preferred time line.

yab said...

Mahesh,
Thanks for replying to my queries. I felt that I was not able to make myself clear. Clarifying on my second question. I am trying to break into two parts.

Please consider the following 2 examples

A kid was born in one of the numerous discriminated castes in India on say 01/01/2010. This kid was adopted and brought up in one of the upper caste families from the day he was born as their own kid. Do you think this kid needs reservation in education, employment and promotions.

If yes, how long would that be ?



A kid was born in one of the numerous advantaged or upper castes in India on say 01/01/2010. This kid was adopted and brought up in one of the discriminated caste families from the day he was born as their own kid. Do you think this kid needs reservation in education, employment and promotions.

If yes, how long would that be ?

I understand this is a hypothetical situation. I thought abstracting a few things in trying to understand the core of the issue should be OK.

Kathi Mahesh Kumar said...

@yab: Its not just the birth, but what family you are born in to is what makes the difference.

So, in first case the kind may not need any reservation. In second case he would surely need reservation. How long... is a difficult question to answer. It will be left that individual's choice.

yab said...

Mahesh,
By how long I meant, how long such reservations should be there, not how long should the kid need it. But yes it sounded like the latter, my mistake. Anyway since it is not the main point, I am leaving that here.

So from the above discussion, can we conclude that a kid who has been born in the most discriminated castes/tribes, if he is brought up in an upper caste family, he will not need reservation.

Kathi Mahesh Kumar said...

@yab: You are seeking simple answers to a complex issue and making your conclusions just based on my response. Let's problematize it further.

Any individual's growth and development are determined both by nature and nurture. Genetics play a deciding factor when it comes to nature and grooming is a result of nurture. If I say, Dalit by birth acquires certain anthropological disadvantages e.g. differences such as first generation learner and second generation learner, would your argument stand holds good against it?

A simple answer to how long reservations should be there would be to say, 'as long as the discrimination exists and as soon as the suppressed reach a stage of unbiased competitive environment' reservation should continue.

yab said...

Mahesh,
Just to clarify my objective. I am not seeking simple answers to complex issues. It is just a process of understanding an issue. I believe there will be answers, however complex the issue might be. I am OK with the fact that some times answers can be complex and sometimes we don't have the will (due to time or other constraints) to seek the answers.

People can just say it is a complex problem you don't understand, reservations are needed or it is a complex issue you don't understand, reservations are NOT needed. I am not seeking such kind of simple answers.

Here I am just trying to understand your perspective about reservations and in the process broaden my perspective (if things make sense to me).

I am not averse to problematizing the problem. I agree with you that genes and environment play role in the behavior of a human being. That is the reason I asked the above questions. Instead of saying that reservations are not needed, you could have given the same reply above as well. I was a bit surprised when you said reservations are not needed in the first case.

So now do you say that disadvantaged castes or tribes acquires certain anthropological disadvantages and need reservations irrespective of the environment they are brought up in.