MALAYALAM
Quintessential Shourie
B. R. P. BHASKAR
ADITHETTUNNA PINNAKKA PREENANAM — by Arun Shourie: M. P. Sadasivan — Tr. in Malayalam; DC Books, DC Kizhakemuri Edam, Good Shepherd Street, Kottayam-686001. Rs. 175.
Lately Arun Shourie has been using his pamphleteering skills in aid of those seeking to dismantle the fragile social justice platform.
This book is a translation of his Falling over Backwards, a critique of reservation for the backward classes. It can be viewed as a sequel to his Worshipping False Gods in which he seeks to demolish B. R. Ambedkar's reputation as the father of the Constitution.
For decades the Centre and most of the states ignored the constitutional provision that permits them to take steps to help the socially and educationally backward sections to catch up with the rest of the society. That does not bother Shourie one bit. What bothers him is that they are now trying to give effect to the provision. He comes down heavily on judges who have upheld reservation for the backward classes. Delving into census reports on which judges have relied, he comes up with enough nuggets to cast doubts on the reliability of the caste data they provide. But he does not call for collection of reliable data. As a rule, anti-reservationists do not favour collection of such data. Absence of hard information makes it easy to sustain an iniquitous situation employing forensic skills.
This is quintessential Shourie: shrill, polemical, and harangue-like. The publisher has expressed the hope that the book will pave the way for a healthy debate in Kerala in the changed social and cultural background. One wonders what changes he has in mind.
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