Is India going into Flashback?

I must admit that the news on television for past couple of days has been disturbing and probably with my understanding of the issues, I conclude that maybe our country is going into flashback. The news doing the rounds include the Reservation Quota increase, the Supreme Court bench coming out with a statement stating excerpts from Article 47 of the Indian Constitution about how States should seriously think about Prohibition in relation to alcohol as it leads to abuse and violence and finally the increasing menace of police brutality (lathicharges, un-necessary arrests etc).

To start with, the issue of increase in the SC/ST and OBC reservation seats in educational institutions. My question is what is the rationale behind it? Arjun Singh and some other party members understand it nobody in the civilized educated world does, so are we fools? Is reservation the only way out? How is a scenario which promotes a person not to be competitive, not fair well amongst peers and still be able to attain the degree/certification, justified?  India is a democratic nation and is a nation which probably has the maximum youth population in the world. It is a jungle out there and the survival of the fittest is the way to go. If you are good, there is no stopping you. And for god sake the government should focus on improving the basic educational facilities to provide a platform to young deprived children so that they can compete with the privileged ones.

Instead of having seat reservation impart education for these sections of society at free of cost, at least the government can do that. The governments in India (no matter formed by which party) are running a vote bank politics and would do anything to attract votes to stay/come to power. A country like India needs a strong focus on promoting intellect, no matter what the source is, and should be gearing up to take on the world. Decisions like reservations are a step backward and certainly are not invited.

Prohibition of any sort has not done well anywhere and in any circumstances. It provides an excitement of sorts to willfully break the norms and enjoy the forbidden more. The story is the same with alcohol which is a tabooed item to be discussed at homes and especially the consumption of it, and yet given a chance young teens enjoy a drink or two every now and then. India is on its way to become a global economy and people’s lives are experiencing a tremendous change. It does not support an argument that to be trendy and hip one need to consume alcohol. This nation has a young and educated youth who understand what is good for them and what is not. It is a choice which a person makes and not a whimsical politician warming his back in the parliament.

Surely excess of everything is bad and alcohol is no different. The availability of cheap alcohol in our country has ruined a lot of homes. Take the case of a laborer who earns 50-60 Rs a day and still manages to buy a bottle of country liquor for 20-25 Rs. Now why does the government sponsor such things? The government provides license for the sale of this liquor and an uninterrupted supply. Why doesn’t the government take a step and ban the sale of this cheap country liquor of which nobody is sure of what standards are maintained to actually produce it.  Isn’t the fact known to everyone that it is the families with poor socio-economic backgrounds where alcohol related violence and abuse is rampant? If the government can fix the maximum retail price on liquor why can’t it fix the minimum retail price for any type of alcohol? Make it out of reach of people with poor economic backgrounds. The only problem which may arise is bootlegging but it is the responsibility of the states to clamp down on such establishments.

This is to again stress on the point that, India is a democratic nation which provides it people the freedom of choice. It is the person and only the person himself who decides what is good for him and no one else.

The people having authority in this country have always abused their powers. The police have always topped the list followed closely by politicians and bureaucrats. No wonder we hear on the news every now and then of fake encounters, lathicharges, extortion by policemen etc. The police commissioner of Mumbai was very recently making a comment of a national news channel saying, “there was no lathicharge ordered on the protesting medical students (against the reservation of seats for SC/ST in medical institutions), the police had to use a little bit of physical force to remove them from the Rajbhavan and in that scenario some people fell and had been injured” and on the other hand there were images being shown of the police brutally hitting students and arresting them.

There is almost a sense of fear in every citizen with anything related to the police. Reporting anything to the police just seems to be getting yourself into trouble situation. There is an urgent need for government to take up these critical issues and let the people of this nation enjoy their freedom and not suppress it.

India as a nation needs to stride forward and tackle with issues effectively and efficiently. The reverse brain drain has just started and Indians should be provided every bit of motivation to stay/return to our motherland and not venture out to the west seeking a better life.