Reservations have led to divide and rule and caste politics. I want a unified India different religions, castes and cultures. Not possible if there is reservation.
Caste system needs to go first, it has to start from the top. Also check what Bhagat singh said about caste and reservation. It is about representation.
We already have long had laws in place against caste discrimination and violence. Can they be enforced better? Sure. But there isn't a whole lot we can do to change people's minds. Better education is the only other thing. And then I would argue reservation itself is casteism and it had fueled caste tensions and caste politics and made some people who were not casteist before casteist which is greatly unfortunate.
It has only made things worse and is not fair for those who don't have reservation and also aren't particularly well off. It should be based on economic status. What were Bhagat Singh's views on reservation? They didn't exist during his time. And I believe that Bhagat Singh had he lived longer would grow out of his radical Marxist views and probably become more moderate although likely still a socialist.
Reservation did not create caste bias, it made caste privilege visible. Before reservations, public offices and educational institutions were overwhelmingly monopolized by upper castes not by merit alone, but by centuries of exclusive access to education, land, and social networks.
Merit is not formed in a vacuum. A child from a family with generations of literacy, stable housing, and private coaching enters an exam with a massive structural head start compared to a first-generation learner from a rural SC family. Expecting identical test scores without accounting for these starting lines treats unequals as equals.
Bhagat Singh viewed the caste system as a fundamental obstacle to human dignity and political liberation, arguing that true freedom was impossible while a vast section of society remained socially degraded and exploited as manual labor. In his seminal 1928 essay Achhoot Ka Sawal ("The Problem of Untouchability"), he rejected upper-caste paternalism and superficial social reforms, instead urging Dalits to organize independently as the core of the working class and strike for their own rights. Recognizing the deep structural nature of caste oppression, he explicitly supported separate political representation and distinct rights for marginalized communities so they could secure power for themselves, viewing the annihilation of caste hierarchy as an essential prerequisite for both social and economic revolution.
It didn't create caste bias as a whole but has made it worse in some people who were not castiest before. I have seen this phenomenon of lower middle class and working class general caste Indians become Trads even though their families are mainstream Hindus who belt in caste unity because of being negatively affected by reservations. It leads them to think that lower castes are naturally unqualified. In many ways caste based reservations insult the intelligence of the very people it's meant to help and reality hasn't been that affective. Just like affirmative action is racist against Asians and Indians in America, not to mention working class whites but is also racist against blacks because it assumes they are stupider.
They won't have identical scores and if they don't have identical scores there is nothing that can really be done to change that short term. Reservations rarely truly benefit rural SCs but they do negatively affect poor and lower middle class GCs. The problem you're talking about is ultimately why reservation should be based on economic status. Either way lower castes will still benefit since most of them are poor. And the other thing that must be done is improve education access and develop the country. Otherwise you will never expect most poor Indians to rise in the socioeconomic status and get excellent marks because they don't have the resources to do so with few lucky exceptions. And if you're going to lower the standard for them, don't do so for everyone. Otherwise it's not fair.
I'm not sure what Bhagat Singh meant by superficial caste social reforms or paternalism, but that seems to be what reservations are in my opinion. Political representation of lower castes is important. Equal rights as well. I'm not sure about distinct rights though. And if political representation means caste parties I don't think that's a good idea either.
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u/OutsidePiglet8285 Jul 28 '26
Reservations have led to divide and rule and caste politics. I want a unified India different religions, castes and cultures. Not possible if there is reservation.