The Hindu : Opinion / Letters to the Editor : Payback time

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Saturday, Dec 22, 2007
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Payback time

The editorial “It’s payback time for Raje” (Dec. 21) rightly points to the political quagmire Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje has landed herself in. With the Gujjars’ demand for inclusion in the list of Scheduled Tribes and the numerically stronger Meenas, already a Scheduled Tribe, vehemently opposing it, the Justice Jas Raj Chopra Committee has not recommended anything new. Ms Raje is now caught between the Scylla and Charybdis. The Gujjar problem is the biggest challenge to her leadership.

R.M. Manoharan,

Chennai

* * *

After the BJP’s victory in the 2003 Assembly elections, Ms Raje forgot the promise made to the Gujjars. This traumatised the community and the outrage among the youth led to violence in different parts of Rajasthan and the neighbouring States in May-June. Committees are constituted to recommend a firm and fair solution to a problem. The Chopra Committee has not done so and has, in fact, made the problem worse.

While governments add more groups to the reservation list, there is no procedure to remove those who are no longer backward or downtrodden from the list. The Vasundhara Raje government is trying to hoard a big chunk of ST reservation for the Meena community which is powerful and the main beneficiary of the ST quota in Rajasthan.

Deepak Singh Gujjar,

New Delhi

* * *

There is no denying that populist and demagogic promises made at the time of elections to lure vote banks lead to undesirable consequences later. This has been made explicit in the Gujjar case.

While all political dispensations are to be blamed for the demagoguery, the fact that even national parties are resorting to it is a matter of great concern. They would be doing a great disservice to the nation if they continue to resort to such short-term appeasement that eventually proves detrimental to the larger interests of the nation.

Amaruvi Devanathan,

Tokyo

* * *

Politicians make chimerical promises during elections and they renege on them while in power. Since Independence, casteism has been strengthening its root in our country, leading to disparity among citizens.

Playing with the sentiments of people is wrong; the BJP and other parties should be careful while making electoral promises.

J.V.S.N. Murthy,

Visakhapatnam

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