Patil rakes up Quota controversy

By raking up the issue of reservation for the minorities the Congress has demonstrated its desperation to win back the Muslim vote. This move is fraught with danger as it is bound to fuel divisive forces. As it is the shortsightedness in the past has given rise to the Muslim and Naxal terrorism. The need of the hour is to give prority to the impoverished and not just the minorities because of their vote bank possibilities.

by SUNITA VAKIL

With the Home Minsiter Mr Shiv Raj Patil voicing the government’s intent to provide reservation for minorities in education and government jobs, the UPA seems to have moved back to its pet peeve of indulging in communal politics under the guise of Secularism.

Indeed, the Congress led UPA government is at it again. The party’s preoccupation with finding a way on Reservation for Minorities has once again exposed its loyalty to the Muslim interests. In what could rake up a fresh controversy over “communal quota,” Mr Patil’s recent statement can be seen as yet another attempt of the UPA government to court the minority community in a bid to widen its support base. Shedding all pretensions of secularism with its eyes on minority votes, the Centre is seeking to provide reservation for minorities in educational institutions and jobs. “We can’t say that quota cannot be given to the minorities. Whatever ingenuity can be used in order to help the people who should be helped in these areas should be taken. The government is looking into these aspects without coming to the final conclusions,” Mr. Patil said while addressing a conference of State Minorities Commissions in the capital. His statement indicated that the government was giving a serious mind to the issue of reservation of minorities as a prescription to uplifting the community socially and economically.

He went on to say that whatever has to be done towards achieving this goal should be done. “We have to apply our minds and try to find out how the Quota for minorities in academic institutions and jobs be provided in the best possible manner,” the Home Minister added, suggesting that his government was looking into the issue of giving land to the landless members of minorities. Mr. Patil assured them that they would continue to enjoy their constitutional rights to propagate their religion. As such, the Home Minister’s remarks provide a window into the government’s crass communal mindset. Also, these clearly signify that it will not even stop short of packaging welfare schemes exclusively for the benefit of Muslims.

When seen through the political prism, Mr. Patil’s speech sends out the message that the UPA is almost desperate to mend fences with the minorities, particularly after the drubbing the party received in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. It is becoming abundantly clear that the Congress has always succumbed when it comes to minority separatism. The party often demonstrates its penchant for appeasing Muslims even at the cost of jeopardizing national interest. Our secular policy, heavily tilted towards minorities has allowed for a special treatment to Indian Muslims. It is a sordid reality that Muslims have throughout been perceived as potential vote banks that have to be treated differently from other communities. In keeping with its myopic minorityism, the UPA government has communalised budgeting, banking and financial institutions. It even tried to communalise the armed forces. Now the more aggressive demands for minority quota in education and jobs is sure to invite criticism from the opposition parties besides being coerced by other parties to walk the talk. In fact, the government seems to be unfazed by such reckless demonstrations of perverted secularism. What is intriguing is that the UPA government is pursuing the “Muslim first” policy with a misplaced zeal, often ignoring and forgetting the overall national interests.

Mr. Patil also indicated that it was the duty of the government to protect the life, property and culture of minorities so that the country remains united. “It was the duty of the government to provide full opportunities of development to minorities and protect their life, property and culture,” he said. Does it conversely mean that the government has no responsibility towards other communities ? As we all know, the PM represents all sections of the society irrespective of their caste, creed and religion. It is his moral obligation to instill utmost faith and confidence in each and every person. No doubt that all those who lag behind deserve to be uplifted but the government’s attempt to shower special favours on one single community at the cost of others smacks of religious discrimination. It needs no reiteration that with Congress going ahead with its toxic agenda, not only will the constitution be subverted but also the party will find itself at the receiving end of accusations of playing the role of pre-1947 Muslim League. Indeed, promoting communal quotas to appease the Muslim community reflects the government’s piecemeal approach to development. One may rightly ask how the UPA came up with the theory that Muslims are poorest of the poor.

In fact, there are people from other communities also who are poorer than the average SC/ST Muslims. Why is not any reservation in place for them? Why then the preferential treatment to Muslims? The Congress obsession with Muslims has led to resentment in society besides nurturing divisive forces. It is very much disconcerting that the party has allowed its concern for the community override issues of strategic interest. This has undoubtedly led to a total failure of governance as well as rise of Islamic and Naxal terrorism. The country will be better served if the ruling party refrains from offering sops to a particular community and focuses instead on providing an efficient governance.

The UPA’s venomous quota notwithstanding, the party is back to stoking communal passions to get the Muslim votes in its kitty especially when the next Lok Sabha polls are approaching. Mr Patil’s speech when seen in this context reflects the ruling party’s keenness to win back its erstwhile constituency that has become estranged due to unlocking of Babri Masjid in 1986 and the subsequent demolition of the mosque, while the Congress helplessly watched.

While the government is making a case for reservation emphasizing “priority to minority” why is it ignoring the priority to impoverished sections of the society? The ruling party has got so much mired in the quagmire of quota politics that it doesn’t have any concern for the plight of Vidharba’s cotton farmers who are committing suicide in large numbers because of acute poverty. Why doesn’t the Congress led UPA government give priority to them in various aspects of policy? In many places in Orissa, parents are selling their children for survival. Why is not the government looking for the welfare of these destitute? Don’t they deserve to be first claimants of our resources?

The same Congress that is now showing undiminished gusto to undo its so called mistakes with regard to Muslims did not spare little thought for the minority Kashmiri Pandit community which has been hounded out of its home and reduced to live a life of refugees in its own country for the past 17 years. Unfortunately, while harping on the Gujarat riots, the secular brigade within the ruling regime remained selectively silent when it came to Kashmir, which was even a greater tragedy. Obviously, this warped vision of the UPA motivates it to clamour for a blanket quota policy in keeping with its deplorable vote bank politics. Isn’t it the duty of the government to provide for the development of the ethnic minority which has been neglected by the bankrupt and opportunistic politicians down the years? More recently the Punjab Governments absurd decision to challenge High Court’s verdict that Sikhs are not a minority in the state is yet another manifestation of vote bank politics corrupting secular principles and eventually destroying the social fabric of the nation.

Meanwhile, Union Human Resources Development Minister Mr. Arjun Singh tried his best to make light of his colleague’s outrageous statement by saying that the government had no plans for reservation of minorities on the basis of religion. “The central government has not taken any decision on the reservation on religious basis”, Mr. Singh told reporters.

Even as the UPA government is planning to highlight minority welfare schemes during the forthcoming budget session of Parliament, the BJP has come out in severe criticism of the former’s alleged move to provide reservation to Muslims. Demanding a clarification from the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the wake of contradictory statements coming forth from two senior Cabinet Ministers, the opposition party has come down heavily on Patil for leaning in favour of minorities for extending quota benefits.

“The Home Minister’s statement is political brinkmanship at its worst. The BJP rejects the move outright,” BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad is reported to have said. Senior BJP leader Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi while talking to this correspondent at a function organised by Rajya Sabha Secretariat in New Delhi also slammed the UPA government for favouring quota for the minorities saying that the move is bound to lay the foundation for another partition.

As former President Mr Abdul Kalam has rightly said that “dependency syndrome has stunted performance and diminished transparency”. Given the failure of casteism for attaining social justice, why do politicians keep on raising the bogey of quotas which have, if nothing, led to more corruption besides lopsided development. It is time for the government to shun appeasement of minorities and instead concentrate on eradicating poverty and good governance.