দাঁড়াও : Pause for a moment

You must have been hearing a lot about the hullaballo over the reservation and anti-reservation quota debacle - raging for quite some time now.. Wait a moment reader.. those who are aquainted with my way of analyses are aware that I tend to get to a situation from the rational point of view such that unnecessary bias may be eleminated- this is not to say that my judgements are always cent percent correct but at least such an attempt is always invariably made. Hence a few facts are presented to you first, quoting the Constitution of India:

• The Preamble guarantees - Equality of status and opportunity.
• Article 14 : Equality before law - The state shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India.
• Article 44 : Uniform Civil Code for the citizens - The state shall endeavour to securefor the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India.
• Article 46 : Promotion of educational and economic interests of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other weaker sections - The state shall promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people, and, in particular, of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, and shall protect them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation.
• Article 51A (c) - to uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India.
• Article 51A (j) - to strive towards excellencein all spheres of individual and collective activity so that the nation constantly rises to higher levels of endeavour and achievement.

The mandate delivered by the Constitution seems to be clear from the afore mentioned Articles - though there are a few more. The founding fathers of our Nation seemed to be having a view that shall adequately safeguard the interest of all the sections of society without tampering with India's zeal to excel in all fields of human activity. The provision for the status of Equality is enumerated in the Preamble itself thereby today making it a 'basic Structure' of the country. The attempt to establish a uniform civil code also aims in this direction - it is clear. Therefore we must shun any attempt that tends to break this very basic premise of the Nation's Rule Book.

I have deliberately also mentioned Article 46, just to show what the country plans to do about the weaker sections who definitely require special attention for social justice to be administered. But it is for us to realise in light of various rulings of the Supreme Court that no part of the Constitution must be read in isolation. So let us read Article 46 along with Article 51A. It must be visible to us that the Constitution never enjoins us to compromise with the Nations strength while making any provision for anybody. A rule that if formulated shall create a schism between the two sections of our society is surely not what the Constitution directs us to do. Article 46 demands that the exploitative nature of society needs to be abolished. That done we cannot go against the others to create an imbalance to deliver some form of injustice to the others who does not fall within the scope of Article 46.

Let us now concentrate a bit on the present issue - a question - how is such reservation going to help those who need help? The people who are to avail of the opprtunities are already in a position to fend for themselves as they are educated. Remember the Constitution provides for these sections of society to rise above the exploitation but nowhere is it enjoined that they must be made superior to the other sections (I know it might just sound a bit harsh and selfish). The interests of the weaker sections when ensured in rational and legal terms the duty to discriminate positively, ends... At least my rational mind says so. For the vested interest of the politicians, an issue that demanded the lives of the likes of Rajeev Goswami has deliberately now been stirred up. Let us go beyond the narrow politics of our 'leaders' to see the greater picture for ourselves... Let us decide for ourselves what is in the best interest of the country.. We are the sovereign power of the nation and in us lies the authority... Let us frame and answer questions like "What comes first - stability of the nation or the narrow interests of a particular group?", "What is important - A second partition or a State based on the principles of equality?"........ The answer to such questions alone can lead us in to the path of true freedom, into the land ,

Where the mind is without fear

And the head is held high..

________________________

----------------------

......চিত্ত যেথা ভয়শূন্য, উচ্চ যেথা শির......