From: vtg1714@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Vishwanath Tirupattur  )
Subject: Re: The Roots of the Recent Violence in India
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 18:27:07 GMT
Keywords: violence, caste reservations, politics, religious disputes

bond@jupiter.sun.csd.unb.ca (  Girish) writes:
(background material deleted)

>     More recently the leftist Janata party, has developed its entire  pol-
>     itical  agenda on quotas based on caste divisions. V.P. Singh, who was
>     prime minister during 1989-90 used the recommendations  of  a  certain
>     Mandal Commission to announce reservations for more than 70 percent of
                                                               ^^^^^^^^^^
>     all jobs. This triggered a wave of suicides by the youth that  finally
>     brought  down  his  government. Nevertheless in the campaign that fol-
>     lowed leading politicians like Rajiv Gandhi and V.P.  Singh  spoke  of
>     their support for further quotas, some even based on religion.

This is incorrect.  Mandal commission's recomendation was to create a quota of
27.5% for the so called "other backward castes", in addition to the 15%     
reservation for scheduled castes and 7.5% for scheduled tribes, making a grand
total of 49.5% reservations.  

(More general historical background deleted)


>     Now imagine the U.S. with a law that allows only the religious minori-
>     ties to run their tax-exempt parochial schools. In such a situation it
>     will be natural for  the  Christian  majority  to  consider  this  law
>     discriminatory  and  have  it expunged? Such an asymmetry is the other
>     main reason behind religious discord in India today.

>     An obscure Article in the Indian Constitution was used in the 70's  by
>     the  Communist  provincial  government of West Bengal to challenge the
>     right of the Hindus to run their schools and  colleges.  According  to
>     this Article members of the majority religion do not have the right to
>     establish their own religious schools whereas the  minority  religions
>     do.  When  the Supreme Court of India upheld the interpretation of the
>     Communists, several Hindu sects that ran schools filed for or received
>     status  as  minority  religions  to prevent the government takeover of
>     their schools.

>     The government of India did not respond to this ruling of the court to
>     try  to change the law so that all religions would be treated equally.
>     This has led to a great resentment amongst the Hindus.

Prof.  Kak does not seem to have his facts correct.  There are Hindu run 
educational institutions all over the country.  I went to the Sri Venkateshwara
High School in Tirupathi which is run by the TTD (Tirumala-Tirupathi           
Devastanams), which is a Hindu religious institution.  The school had a few
non-Hindus but we had Hindu prayers (suprabhatham and so on) every day 
which were always read by a Bramhin boy (from a temple priest family).  There
are many other instances where Hindu religious institutions run schools and 
collges.                                                  

Hence, the statement that the majority community in India does not have the
right to establish their own educational institutions is plainly incorrect.

Vishwanath