While the youth of Jammu and Kashmir have been protesting against unjust and imbalanced reservation policies, some political voices too have joined it. The Omar Abdullah-led government has already established a three member cabinet sub-committee to look into the matter and the issue is also being heard by the judiciary. In this backdrop, scores of youth assembled outside the residence of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in Srinagar to protest against the reservation policy implemented by the Jammu and Kashmir government. Interestingly the protest was headed by Ruhullah Mehdi, NC MP and also party’s one of the strong voices. PDP too joined and so did jailed Engineer Rashid’s party.
While one should appreciate these political parties for joining the hands with J&K’s disgruntled and marginalised youth, the youth need to be very cautious and should not allow politicians to play them. The youth have genuine reservations about the reservation policy that lacks fairness and equality. It is illogical, politically motivated and it bereft of any legal sanctity as it denies equal opportunities to all citizens. It is to be fought against both legally and politically.
From day-one the system of reservations has proved a big nuisance even though the measure was well-intentioned when it was conceived. In order to equip unprivileged classes for improvement in their lot, reservation, if anything, serves as a short-cut method. It may no doubt yield some results in terms of speedy development, self-sufficiency and self-reliance of underprivileged classes, but at the same, it also undercuts the chances of normal growth of those who do not belong to any of such categories. In fact the experience also shows that only a small fraction of unprivileged people have benefited over the years while a huge lot continues to rot in the mess they were in 1947.
Now that the Omar-Abdullah led government has tasked a cabinet sub-committee to look into the matter, the members of the said committee should have consultations with all stake holders, social scientist, economists and academia and try to find out a viable solution to a problem that is threatening the very existence of the educated youth falling in the Open Merit category. The present reservation policy has created an imbalance and it needs and the job of the committee would be to suggest steps that would undo the imbalance and at the same time ensure that deserved ones are not left unattended.
Having said that, the way some politicians are planning to bake their cakes in reservation oven, given the past experience when youth were pulled onto streets along some different slogans, situation seems worrisome. Students have every right to protest for their rights peacefully but why should they be brand ambassadors of some politicians, who while in power had never cared for them and are now trying to use them, the way the separatist politics used them, to score their points. Let youth fight their battle their own way, peacefully and in a dignified manner. Don’t play in the hands of politicians.