Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Quota issue

This refers to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi's remark that the fate and future of 100 crore people cannot be decided by two or three persons (April 25) in the context of the Supreme Court's stay on 27 per cent reservation for OBCs. He has called a spade a spade. The thinking, especially among intellectuals, is that the judiciary is sacrosanct, the media are infallible and the executive is always at fault. It is in this context that Mr. Karunanidhi's forthright statement in defence of the OBC quota assumes greater significance.

Hopefully, the final hearing on May 8 will help OBC aspirants gain entry into the hallowed portals of the centres of higher learning funded by the Government of India.

G. David Milton,
Maruthancode

The Supreme Court's decision to post the quota case to May 8 upholds the credibility of our judicial system. Such an important case involving the welfare of millions of students requires a speedy and final disposal.

V.K. Sathyavan Nair,
Kottayam

Why the UPA Government is in such a hurry while dealing with a sensitive issue is difficult to comprehend.

It would be better for the Government to go slow and convince the court of the need for reservation because it has not said `no' but only questioned the rationale behind reservation in its present form.

V. Padmanabhan,
Bangalore

What is wrong in the judiciary demanding the latest data to identify the real OBCs or calling for exclusion of the creamy layer?

Why does the Government want to implement a policy that will favour only the economically forward OBCs?

K.S. Satagopan,
Chennai

If courts are expected to endorse whatever the legislature enacts, what is the need for an independent judiciary?

B. Chandrasekhar,
Hyderabad

The matter pertains only to reservation in elite institutions, which are very few.

The court has not disallowed reservation in IITs and IIMs. It has only asked the Government to provide detailed data.

P. Jyothishmathi,
Chennai

The court has never stood in the way of any move really meant for the welfare of the people, particularly the oppressed sections.

K. Hari Krishnan,
Tuticorin

In any political system, one person (or a group) takes all decisions. Let Mr. Karunanidhi call for a referendum on the issue.

Only students across the country should participate and political parties should be kept out.

V. Govindarajan,
Malaysia

The court is right in asking for the exclusion of the creamy layer which grabs the opportunities of the backward among the OBCs.

V.S. Ganeshan,
Bangalore

Politicians cannot be allowed to bend the Constitution in the name of social justice. The persons who gave the ruling were learned judges, not "any two" people.

S. Nivedita,
Chennai

While it is necessary to work for the uplift of the needy, it should be done with the cooperation and participation of all. Politicians are in power for a limited period and they should not destroy the time-tested system.

R. Venkatasubramanian,
Bangalore

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