Mahesh Chander
We the people of India are blessed with rich heritage. Indian society since long has been very receptive. Recorded history of around five thousand years shows that our ancestors adopted a societal division based on occupations. This division over the period of time got evolved into a caste based social fabric. This caste system has also gone through many ups and downs with lot of evils erupting out of day to day conduct of the members of the society especially during pre-British era when the country was ruled by many kings of local and foreign origins. Not much of politics was seen prevalent in those days as the kings depended on their wazirs who were not elected but appointed by the kings. However, the days of English kingdom also remained apolitical as the will of the ruler prevailed without any care and concern towards human rights. The motive of English officials was to execute the orders of the Royal English Empire in their larger business interest. Indian assets were diverted towards the royal inventory.
On gaining independence from the British Rule, we adopted newly framed Constitution of India and the kings were made to merge into Indian Union and accept the Indian Constitution so framed. This paved way for emergence of political parties, and with this politics entered into our social fabric. To attain the respect for humanity and provide equal opportunity to all citizens of India as provided in our constitution, some provisions were made to uplift socially disadvantaged people through reservations. This created a scope for political parties to capitalize in the form of votes from these citizens. Initially, these reservations were created caste based like SC, ST, and OBC etc. These reservation groups over the period of time turned into king makers. They became effective tools in the hands of politicians who sought their support in winning elections rather than elevating their social status. It has therefore become counterproductive not only for the system but also for the affected citizens in the present context. We have lived seven decades of republican democracy and Indian voter has matured through these processes. He expects his political masters to respect his individuality rather than exploiting him as a member of reserved categories. No doubt, he has a rich belief in the Indian Constitution that assures him equal opportunities of growth both economic and social. He does not like to lose on this account. Hence, he expects change in the behavior of political classes so that he is not looked down as a mercy seeker. He expects share due to him and does not look for undue favors.
What is expected in the changed social scenario is not the caste based reservation, but reservations based on economic status of a person. Economically weaker section should be conferred with special rights to elevate their living standards and our leaders are expected to work in this direction leaving age old reservation on caste basis. Any citizen without any distinction of state, region or religion should be able to avail opportunity of seeking Government jobs without any relaxation of merit. Quality of services provided to common man will not be compromised if the merit prevails everywhere. I am sure this will be possible if we the citizens of India join hands and do not allow political classes to exploit us on the basis of our religions. Let them be taught a befitting lesson in case they attempt to divide us merely to capitalize on our constitutional right. We are duty bound to use this precious right in the larger interest of the State and not for our immediate gains. Results of recent elections across the country to some extent show the ray of hope, of course with exceptions where might is right has still prevailed to form governments against the will of the people. The conscious exercise of franchise will give the required result and to create an environment for general public to understand the hidden agenda of political classes. The larger interest of the Union of India does not lie in single party politics. It calls for a colorful political fabric to be woven by us. Hence, we all need to stand against political capitalization so that strength of the vote, a sacred constitutional right, is not minimized to an extent that our republican democracy is left meaningless. It needs a larger space and opportunity to discuss the rich attributes of the democracy which allows social, secular and economic growth of each one of us. I therefore call upon each and every citizen of India to be more careful in exercising his right to vote so that he himself creates his destiny and may not depend on other power to safeguard his rights.
(The author is former Wing Commander)
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