Thought for the day : Before this I never even knew which of my classmates were in the reserved category. Now that the government has announced reservations, I do! First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.
Pastor Martin Niemoller
Acknowledgments for the mail, are due to Vivek Arya, Arvind Dahiya, Aman Dua, Neha KG, Arunabh Sekhri, SC Marawaha
If reservations have be accepted, then should the agitation bargain for a time frame. Say five to ten years, after which the reservations will be abolished.
Though I am from so called OBC (As Jats are in OBC in Rajasthan, UP, Delhi) but I seriously feel that present reservation policy should be reviewed. Our inaction will destroy the future of our future generation.
Sincere try followed by failure is much better than inaction and injustice. Netaji Subhash Chandar Bose, failed to stop British army but is still most respected because he fought.
- Dr Arvind Dahiya
Why is the punishment being exacted from the children who are more liberal about the caste system than any previous generation of Indians has been.
- SC Marawah
Here are some concrete steps that we can take at individual and group level to do something in the anti reservation protests
1. Our objectives should be clear and our agenda should be chalked out clearly. We should have a common spokesperson that gives comments to the media and the rest of the people do not speak to media.
2. We should have some mechanism to co ordinate with the different cities. We could have an individual from each city to volunteer to coordinate the activity there and we could for a mail group to these individuals to have an orchestrated effort.
3. Legal Action
a. A PIL can be filed against the 93rd Amendment Act, which gave the government to impose upto 50% reservations in all educational institutes
b. For the same, a good legal counsel will be required, because the amendment was approved by the Parliament in Jan, 2006 with only one vote against it.
4. That the PM or the President have still not stepped up with a statement, is both shocking and concerning. Please send mails to them. My respect for my PM has certainly taken a beating
a. Prime Minister - http://pmindia.nic.in/write.htm
b. President - http://presidentofindia.nic.in/scripts/writetopresident.jsp
5. Delegate groups of five to ten students to work under a common umbrella and to garner support from different fronts. Each group to target a specific person or task on Monday. Make use of the strength in numbers. Hunger strike and gatherings and slogan shouting don't seem to be helping
a. Politicians
b. Journalists – Target Vir Sanghvi, Karan Thapar, Vinod Dua, Aroon Pourie, Shekhar Suman, Navjyot Sidhu, Prabhu Chawla
i. Target the journalists coming to cover the agitation in their own game. Get hold of them, ask them their views and ask them to help behind the curtain without coming out with a bias
c. Industrialists – Narayan Murty, Azim Premji, Rahul Bajaj, Lakshmi Mittal
d. Delhi University
e. Schools of Delhi – A moving media statement may bring the children who are on vacation to the streets
6. Target the International Media. If we rope in the BBC and larger news channels then the politicians will have to listen. Exhaust all journalist contacts.
7. The think tank to sit and devise answers to disturbing questions raised by media. Think what we are going to do if government evokes the ESMA? We should have more carefully designed answers and uniformly worded. Each student should be reciting the same answer to prevent confusion and to prevent being tricked by experienced journalists.
a. What are you doing when patients suffer
i. Patients suffer in every strike. When the auto drivers go on strike a patient may die if he cant reach the hospital in time. That never is highlighted in the media.
ii. Will the patients not suffer if the quota is instituted? Or will we then accept it as the will of God? b. Get more girl students in front of the camera.
c. Are you not in favor of Equitable justice
i. Will reservation creat an equitable society? If yes, then go ahead and reserve 100% seats for five years. Give a time frame.
ii. Jawahar Lal Nehru said that reservations are not the answer. This was quoted today by Karan Thapar
8. Organize debates on public platforms. For and against the motion. The best speaker gets to represent the issue in front of the media. Poster making contests, slogan writing contests, poetry writing contests and best picture taken contests. We could give them huge prizes and then ask them to donate a part of their prizes for the common anti reservation fund.
9. Organize an anti reservation protest march on Sunday 21st May 2006 in Delhi. If anyone has taken pictures of the police brutality against medical students or has any pictures of the protests taken personally by you, which would not cause copyright problems, then please email them to me at ashgoe@gmail.com urgently with a clear note that these could be used for publication in public forums. If we think we are better than the current breed of politicians, we need to beat them at their own game, with their rules.
Ashish Goel