Following is the letter I mailed to Rahul Gandhi, General Secretary, All India Congress Committee on 23 October 2011. It addresses a fundamental correction in the view point of the majority of the people associated with the governance of our nation. I posted it on office@rahulgandhi.in . Will also post the reply here, if any.
Dear Mr Gandhi,
I am a common man of this wonderful country. The very common man whose well-being and prosperity is your responsibility, by your choice. I respect the vision you have for our motherland, and as a fellow countryman, I sincerely hope it comes true. However, I write this letter to you to correct a fundamental error in your conceptualization and visualisation of India in the future. I did not correct you when you were speaking about the same in my college- BITS Pilani KK Birla Goa Campus, a few months back as I was perhaps too much in awe of you. But as they say, it is better late than never.
Sir, you were in my college for a function felicitating our founder Dr. KK Birla. Your address to the students was followed by an interactive session which involved the exchange of some questions and answers between you and us students; and vice versa. I was satisfied with all your answers except one. You were asked a question regarding the reservation policies adopted by the UPA government during its first tenure from 2004-2009. Now, I don't know if your answer was meant to be a defence to the government policies or your personal thinking, but I sincerely hope it is the former as I cannot imagine a youth leader to uphold such views. You said the 'question is not how we divide the pie, the question is - can we make it any bigger?’ And to illustrate your point of view, you asked us that how many of us students belong to SC/ ST/ other backward classes. Only one guy raised his hand and his name was Anand if you do not remember. You said, "There you see guys, in an audience of about 2000 in this world class institute, you can see only one hand raised, only Anand representing 80% population of the country." Therein lays the fundamental error in your concept. You see Sir, before you raised that question; nobody in the audience knew Anand's caste. All we knew about him was that he is a very talented engineer who can captivate audiences with his Kathak performances. The error was that Anand was not the only one representing 80% of the Indian population in an audience of 2000, in actuality, that audience of 2000 represented what India has to become in the near future, a nation that does not discriminate on regional, religious, caste or lingual basis; a nation that rewards the talented, helps those in need and punishes those who commit wrong deeds by intent. Sir, that audience of 2000 represented the 100% of what India should be. Sure, we feel a little awkward when we come across someone who speaks a different language, or has a different culture or a different stand where religion is concerned, but sir these factors never stopped me from hugging that someone when India won the cricket world cup earlier this year. We were both over joyed at our nation's success. And this is what needs to happen – one Indian should recognise the other just as a fellow Indian, not as a Hindu/Muslim/Sikh/Christian/Jaat/Brahmin/Rajput/Gujjar/Yadav etc. etc. etc.
This change can only be brought about by people in your position, those who govern us. If you stop mentioning castes and religions in your speeches, and ask for our votes based on your work or your intent for it- then, and only then, will the common man rise above these issues.
I do not say abolish reservation completely, but I advocate its use for those in actual need of it and until there is need for it. Keeping social origins as a basis for such a policy makes it an ever existent burden on the most valuable resource of India – the human resource. Nothing beneficial for a majority of those in need comes out of it. For example, a person belonging to a ‘Scheduled Caste’ who posted glamorous photographs of his/her visit to London a few weeks prior to IIT-JEE, does not need reservation in the prestigious institutions more than a janitor’s son/daughter, who is sweating his/her blood to make it there, despite of all his hardships, just to make life better for his/her family; but he/she will not benefit from it, because he/she is a Brahmin by birth. Tell me sir, does such a situation seem fair to you? Is it more important that there be 50% people representing 80% of India’s population by compulsion?
I would like to conclude this letter by a simple question, please think over it.
कांग्रेस का हाथ तोह गरीबों के साथ था न सर.... तो फिर उनमे भेद भाव क्यों?
वन्दे मातरम्
Regards,
Devanshu Kaushik
Dear Mr Gandhi,
I am a common man of this wonderful country. The very common man whose well-being and prosperity is your responsibility, by your choice. I respect the vision you have for our motherland, and as a fellow countryman, I sincerely hope it comes true. However, I write this letter to you to correct a fundamental error in your conceptualization and visualisation of India in the future. I did not correct you when you were speaking about the same in my college- BITS Pilani KK Birla Goa Campus, a few months back as I was perhaps too much in awe of you. But as they say, it is better late than never.
Sir, you were in my college for a function felicitating our founder Dr. KK Birla. Your address to the students was followed by an interactive session which involved the exchange of some questions and answers between you and us students; and vice versa. I was satisfied with all your answers except one. You were asked a question regarding the reservation policies adopted by the UPA government during its first tenure from 2004-2009. Now, I don't know if your answer was meant to be a defence to the government policies or your personal thinking, but I sincerely hope it is the former as I cannot imagine a youth leader to uphold such views. You said the 'question is not how we divide the pie, the question is - can we make it any bigger?’ And to illustrate your point of view, you asked us that how many of us students belong to SC/ ST/ other backward classes. Only one guy raised his hand and his name was Anand if you do not remember. You said, "There you see guys, in an audience of about 2000 in this world class institute, you can see only one hand raised, only Anand representing 80% population of the country." Therein lays the fundamental error in your concept. You see Sir, before you raised that question; nobody in the audience knew Anand's caste. All we knew about him was that he is a very talented engineer who can captivate audiences with his Kathak performances. The error was that Anand was not the only one representing 80% of the Indian population in an audience of 2000, in actuality, that audience of 2000 represented what India has to become in the near future, a nation that does not discriminate on regional, religious, caste or lingual basis; a nation that rewards the talented, helps those in need and punishes those who commit wrong deeds by intent. Sir, that audience of 2000 represented the 100% of what India should be. Sure, we feel a little awkward when we come across someone who speaks a different language, or has a different culture or a different stand where religion is concerned, but sir these factors never stopped me from hugging that someone when India won the cricket world cup earlier this year. We were both over joyed at our nation's success. And this is what needs to happen – one Indian should recognise the other just as a fellow Indian, not as a Hindu/Muslim/Sikh/Christian/Jaat/Brahmin/Rajput/Gujjar/Yadav etc. etc. etc.
This change can only be brought about by people in your position, those who govern us. If you stop mentioning castes and religions in your speeches, and ask for our votes based on your work or your intent for it- then, and only then, will the common man rise above these issues.
I do not say abolish reservation completely, but I advocate its use for those in actual need of it and until there is need for it. Keeping social origins as a basis for such a policy makes it an ever existent burden on the most valuable resource of India – the human resource. Nothing beneficial for a majority of those in need comes out of it. For example, a person belonging to a ‘Scheduled Caste’ who posted glamorous photographs of his/her visit to London a few weeks prior to IIT-JEE, does not need reservation in the prestigious institutions more than a janitor’s son/daughter, who is sweating his/her blood to make it there, despite of all his hardships, just to make life better for his/her family; but he/she will not benefit from it, because he/she is a Brahmin by birth. Tell me sir, does such a situation seem fair to you? Is it more important that there be 50% people representing 80% of India’s population by compulsion?
I would like to conclude this letter by a simple question, please think over it.
कांग्रेस का हाथ तोह गरीबों के साथ था न सर.... तो फिर उनमे भेद भाव क्यों?
वन्दे मातरम्
Regards,
Devanshu Kaushik
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