Quota fraught with dangers

The New Indian Express
First Published : 27 Mar 2010 12:07:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 27 Mar 2010 12:34:01 AM IST

The Supreme Court’s decision to stay the Andhra High Court’s judgment invalidating the quotas for Muslims is fraught with portentous social and political consequences. While the high court had called such reservations unconstitutional, the apex court has decided to refer the matter to a constitutional bench for a closer scrutiny, thereby reopening the question of including religious groups in the quota system. Irrespective of what the final verdict will be, it is obvious that politicians for and against such preferential treatment will be engaged in the meantime in whipping up a minor storm.

Considering that the Ranganath Mishra commission favours affirmative action for the minorities, there is little likelihood of the contentious topic remaining confined to judicial precincts. There is little doubt that those opposed to the commission’s recommendations will use the opportunity provided by the judicial diktat to insinuate that a vital change is in the offing. It is undeniable, of course, that the liberal political class has generally been open to the idea of extending reservations to the minorities. However, since such an initiative had not been constitutionally feasible till now, a roundabout way of providing the reservations was tried via the idea of favouring only the socially and educationally backward sections of the minorities, sometimes without mentioning them by name. The opponents of such endeavours, belonging mainly to the saffron camp, had seen such manoeuvres as an example of minority appeasement, to use a phrase favoured by them.

It is obvious, however, that the country is slowly but surely expanding the ambit of the quota system to include groups which were not originally envisaged in the constitution. From the system of quotas, therefore, for only Dalits and adivasis — and that, too, for only 10 years — the reservations have subsequently brought in their fold the OBCs as well as the women, though only in the panchayats at present. If the minorities are also included — or the idea of doing so is legitimised — then the scope will seem limitless. What is worse, however, is that tensions are bound to be generated to score political points. If the violence that marked the implementation of the Mandal report is remembered, and the current egregious comments on women’s reservations are considered, it will be possible to get some idea of the consequences.