Understanding Balakrishnanan committee on reservation for converts through the prism of Babasaheb Ambedkar

There is a Gondi idiom – Buch buch aayana kavvete palki rengina, which means to be ahead but not paying attention to the main subject. This Gondi idiom is accurate in the context of the Ranganath Mishra Commission set up to protect the interests of Dalit Society. Setting up the KG Balakrishna Commission by the Modi Government after the Ranganath Mishra Commission is a sensitive attempt to check, measure and stop the misuse of reservations. Through the Ranganath Mishra Commission, Congress Government, on the one hand, carried forward its policy of appeasement; on the other hand, it continued the unethical politics of putting Muslim society on crutches and keeping it just as a dependent vote bank. It is expected from the KG Balakrishnan Commission that it will prove to be meaningful in maintaining the emotion, essence, and soul of reservation in India as the spirit of Babasaheb.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), consistently opposes the inclusion of Muslims and Christians in the SC quota. According to the constitution, only people of Hindu, Sikh, or Buddhist religions get SC caste status. The party believes that religious conversion is increasing more due to this. People from Muslim and Christian religions are also demanding this constitutional SC status.

What conditions are being created when the benefit of the reservation system does not reach its original beneficiary? Due to getting the maximum benefit of reservation only to the Pseudo Dalits, who look only at their society with disdain and humour, how toxic is its effect on the Dalit and Tribal society? Although our community is witnessing these side effects with its crores of eyes, after studying all these by a high commission, they get democratic, judicial and legal recognition. The study of this commission will help determine clearly who will benefit from the reservation and who will not. If we want to bring Ambedkar’s works, dreams, and thinking to the ground of reality, then we have to understand the basic essence of his entire thought, writing, speeches, and creative world. Ambedkar was not only in favour of reservation but strongly in favour of the scientific nation of reservation and rationalisation.

There are no means of any reservation if its benefits do not go to the poorest and needy beneficiary. No means of reservation arises here if there are any leakages in the basic idea basic system. The goal of Ambedkar gets destroyed by these leakages. What a great irony that the benefit of eighty per cent of the facilities of the reservation is given to 20 per cent of such fake Scheduled and Scheduled Tribes. Those who have converted to another country’s religion in greed and temptation eat most of the reservation’s fruits.

These so-called 20 per cent of people converted to Christian and Muslim religions are exploiting the reservation given to the Dalit community. These so-called developed Dalit people don’t treat others in their society with “Roti Beti Ka Sambandh”. These converted scheduled caste and tribal people have a sense of hatred, meanness and sarcasm towards the actual Dalits and oppressed people of us. The special but condemnable thing is that these 20 per cent converted Christians and Muslims, with their caucus, shrewdness, money power and political power, keep reservation facilities limited to their clan and converted people only. If Babasaheb were alive today, he would have immediately abolished the reservation facilities of these people who adopted foreign religions.

Today the country’s policymakers will have to think about how it is appropriate to give OBC reservations to the Muslim community. OBC reservation was woven only for the upliftment of the backward Hindus. The burning question is also that it is always said from the side of Islam that there is no caste system in their religion. It is also said that every Muslim is equal in Islam. When there is no caste system among them, all are equal, then why should they get reservations given to backward castes? Christianity also boasts of being free from the caste system; when there is no caste, there is no neglect and discrimination in their society, then why the benefit of caste reservation? This disease is the gift of appeasement.

Muslims, who ruled in a part of India for more than two centuries, want to join the OBCs and take the illegal benefits of reservation. Remember that except Sheikh, Sayyed and Mughal Pathan, all other Muslim castes come in OBC. This Muslim community used to get a higher social position and status than any Brahmin and Thakur in India. Muslims had to pay fewer taxes than Hindus for eight hundred years, and they also got many additional facilities from the Government, so how did they become backward? Can the ruling class ever be backward?

Congress, the father of appeasement, passed a special bill in 2007-08 to ensure that Christians who converted from Hinduism and OBC Christians would also benefit from the reservation. Tribal Christians are already getting this facility by leakages of the reservation system. In this way, they create a dangerous civil war situation through demographic imbalance and unfair distribution of reservations. Conspirators are engaged in the work of religious conversion fearlessly at an uncontrolled pace. The essence of the reservation law is lost. As per the constitution, people belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes who have converted to Buddhism, Jainism or Sikhism should continue to benefit from the reservation. Presently this law is being flouted.

It is expected that the KG Balakrishna Commission will investigate the whole situation by becoming the eyes of Babasaheb. How can people get reservation benefits under Article-341 of the Constitution after conversion to other religions? This question is now before the nation whether to implement or reject the entire sentiments of Babasaheb Ambedkar.

At present, many such disputes are going on in the courts. Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists have been included in Hinduism in Article-25 of the Constitution. This controversy over the benefits of reservation to converted SCs raises a new debate on the definition and benefits of minorities. Despite the 50 per cent restriction, the originally deprived class still needs to get the desired benefits due to the inclusion of new people in the ambit of reservation. Muslims and Christians get undue benefits from the reservation, and the Dalits of the Hindu religion suffer from losing facilities. Many states are also enacting laws against religious conversion. If the benefit of reservation is allowed after conversion, then the social crime of conversion will gain momentum.

Religion is a matter of personal belief, but the law has no clarity. To cheat the country, society, and law, people do not change their names and surnames even after conversion and illegally continue to take advantage of reservations. It is like throwing chilli powder in the eyes of society. After the commission’s report, a fresh debate will start on many legal anomalies in society, government, parliament and the Supreme Court.

Undoubtedly, it can be said that questions have been raised about Babasaheb’s original spirit and intention regarding the reservation. New leakages have come continuously to the facility of reservation. In this context, investigation, study and diagnosis of the problem from the point of view of sociology is the only way. KG Balakrishna Commission will prove to be the architect of this path; this is the country’s belief.

(The writer is an advisor, Department of official Language, Government of India)