US holds hearing on Indian caste system...UN too..

[samai]

We should stop this , US is no one to tell us how we should deal with our lower/inferior castes in Hinduism.US is already necouraging its mutinationals to implement affirmative action in India like they do in USA becuase of which our superior caste Hindu brothers in US got promoted to higer positions due to the affirmative action towards minorities in US.



Imagine if the US multinationals in India implement this affirmative action in private sector in India we will loose out to the lower castes.





WASHINGTON: The Indian government came in for criticism for allegedly "ignoring" human rights problems and not making efforts to build a casteless society, at the first hearing of the US Congress on the issue here.



"As we seek to develop a strategic partnership with India, we must not lose sight of India's serious human rights problems," Republican Congressman Christopher Smith said during the hearing of the house subcommittee on Africa and global human rights, of which he is the chairman.



"To keep nearly a quarter on one's population in subhuman status is not only a grotesque violation of human rights but it is a formula for economic and political stagnation as well," he said at the hearing entitled 'India's Unfinished Agenda: Equality and Justice for Victims of Caste System.'



The Indian government "condones, ignores and in some instances, has even promoted... Massive catalogues of human rights violations," Smith charged on Thursday. These problems are amply documented in the three current state department reports: The 2004 Human Rights Report on India, The 2005 Report on Trafficking in Persons and The 2004 Report on Religious Freedom.



Testifying before the subcommittee, human rights organisation Amnesty International's advocacy director for Asia and Pacific, T Kumar said equality and justice for 200 million "victims" of the caste-system was part of India's "unfinished agenda."



Other delegates who testified before the sub-committee included Udit Raj, chairman of All-India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations; Kancha Ilaiah, professor of political science, Osmania University; Indira Singh Athwale of the All-India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations and Joseph D'Souza, president of the Dalit Freedom Network.



All were critical of what they alleged the government's inaction to build a casteless society. D'Souza demanded that even when Dalits converted to Christianity or Islam, they should continue to get reservation in education, government jobs and other areas where the reservation applies, for conversion does not change the status of a Dalit.



There was also a strong demand by them for reservation in private employment. They said that Dalits were losing out because English was not taught in schools from the very beginning. "More than 200 million people in India are being hurt by the growth of the private sector in India.



The reservation system that has guaranteed some measure of economic advancement for the Dalits is being slowly destroyed by the progress of privatisation in India," Raj claimed. He said equality and justice for 200 million "victims" of the caste system is part of India's unfinished agenda.

[redneck]

US is already necouraging its mutinationals to implement affirmative action in India like they do in USA becuase of which our superior caste Hindu brothers in US got promoted to higer positions due to the affirmative action towards minorities in US.

Thats very true the same so called hindu upper castes who are opposing the affirmative action in India take advantage of the affirmative action towards minorities in USA and reach top posts and get promoted over regular Americans and still oppose it while the affirmative action is being implemented in India to give representation to the under represented sections of the socities in India.



If affirmative action(reservations in India) is anti development then take example of America which is the most developed nation in the world and prides itself for its affirmative action or reservation policies by giving representation to all the sections of the society.

[FT]

Thats very true the same so called hindu upper castes who are opposing the affirmative action in India take advantage of the affirmative action towards minorities in USA and reach top posts and get promoted over regular Americans and still oppose it while the affirmative action is being implemented in India to give representation to the under represented sections of the socities in India.

Affirmative action for Indians in US? Dude, US is United States of America. Not US of Mars. If you are black, AS, yes. If you are brown, bust your own ass. Uncle Sam ain't here to help you if you are anything but White, Black or Hispanic (now).



So do u think Fiji, Malaysia, Singapore, East Africa, UK also have affirmative action policies that promotes folks of Indian ethinicity to rise through the ranks and play a prominent role those societies.



You must be living in the La La land of the inverted logic that arises from the post independent India's penchant for justifying every aspect of life with one broad brush stroke, insensitive to the consequences of such to the future of our nation building.



Question is not about forward castes, or backward castes. It is availability of resources to break through the glass ceiling of inferiority complex that has been thrust down onto Indian masses and assidiously maintained by the ruling class of imbecile politicians (now there is no quota system for becoming a politician. Is there? Yes, the most manipulative and lacking in human morals is adequate. Or do we need to implement a quota system based on human goodness, rather than that is derived from being born in a certain household.)

[FT]

If affirmative action(reservations in India) is anti development then take example of America which is the most developed nation in the world and prides itself for its affirmative action or reservation policies by giving representation to all the sections of the society.

Additionally, you should know that courts have stuck down affirmative action in education, based on race alone, in United States.



Please use updated references in the future. With a handle like 'Redneck', you do sound like one.

[Mayavi Morpheus]

Just a FYI, Affirmative action in US is completely different from Reservations in India. There are no fixed number of seats reserved for minority blacks in US universities like we have it in India. Instead, affrimative actions ensures that the bar is set slightly lower for blacks compared to others. I do not know the utility of such affirmative action in US universities but it is there in place to appease the minorities and nothing more.

In India, we have reservations in addition to affirmative action! For example, the qualifying marks for SC/ST is much lower than that for the rest of the students. In addition to this, the SC/ST and BC have a number of seats reserved exclusively for them.

[Arch]

Just a FYI, Affirmative action in US is completely different from Reservations in India. There are no fixed number of seats reserved for minority blacks in US universities like we have it in India. Instead, affrimative actions ensures that the bar is set slightly lower for blacks compared to others. I do not know the utility of such affirmative action in US universities but it is there in place to appease the minorities and nothing more.
In India, we have reservations in addition to affirmative action! For example, the qualifying marks for SC/ST is much lower than that for the rest of the students. In addition to this, the SC/ST and BC have a number of seats reserved exclusively for them.

I think affirmative action is not just for blacks as was originally enacted, it is now for all minorites, women and non-hetrosexuals of all colours other than the white hetrosexual males. Essentially, we call it reservations, Amercians call it affirmative action. The politics are similar to ours, though.

http://www.now.org/nnt/08-95/affirmhs.html

Affirmative action, the set of public policies and initiatives designed to help eliminate past and present discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, is under attack......

[ft]

http://www.now.org/nnt/08-95/affirmhs.html

Article in the link is from 1995. More updated reference might help.



A society sans conscious ability to uplift it's weaker sections will not be a conscientious one, while a society favoring a section of it's population based on reservations will not be a viable or vibrant society for long via promotion of the not so able while rejecting and driving the abler part of the disenfranchised society to frustration or outside the folds of self.



A delicate balance has to be struck. Reservations in the current form have been helping only those parts of the 'backward' sections who have already benefited from the reservations and truly don't need the benefit of such a tool (or crutch) any longer. Continuing reservations in their current form will no longer achieve the objectives of Dr. Ambedkar or our founding fathers.



The continuation of the reservations in the current form is device of the populistic politicians.



What is needed are reservations based on economic backwardness. For this equates to social backwardness. Assumption that belonging to a certain caste is equivalent to social backwardness is function of lack of will on the part of our Government to undertake a complex process that will be truly beneficial. A complex process undoing reservations in current form, and identifying the true backward classes.