debray@sbcs.UUCP (05/27/83)
An article on racial discrimination was posted recently on net.flame, and it mentioned the affirmative action program. In my native country, India, we've had something very like that these last few decades, and I thought an account of our experience might not be irrelevant here. Indian society has had the "caste system" since Vedic times (app. 3K years); at the bottom of the heap, in this system, were the Shudras, or the untouchables. After independence, in an attempt to raise these people out of their miserable condition, and eradicate casteism, the government imposed a "quota system". Universities, public organizations etc. had to reserve a certain quota for the lower castes. What with economic conditions as they are, unemployment was high. High-caste Hindus found themselves victims of reverse discrimination: lesser qualified applicants from lower castes would walk away with jobs because of the quotas that had to be filled. Politicians found this a convenient way of wooing the lower-caste voters, and kept extending the deadline for the end of the quota system. Resentment grew, and old casteist feelings sprang up stronger than ever. Far from eradicating casteism, the program only generated more poison. It's a long story that I won't go into here, but over the last decade there have been intermittent riots here and there, and many people - mostly from the lower castes - have been killed; many of them pretty brutally. The story has some parallels with AA here; I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions. This article really doesn't belong to net.flame, but since the original article was posted there, I'm posting a copy on net.flame too. Saumya Debray ...philabs!sbcs!debray