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Reservations and Affirmative Action in South Asia
We
believe that affirmative action policies such as reservations play a
key role in the empowerment of historically marginalized communities.
The reservation policy in India is designed to compensate for centuries
of caste-based oppression faced by lower-caste communities, and the
subsequent inequalities that have resulted. Hence we are disappointed
and saddened by the recent spate of protests by students of elite
institutions and urban professionals in India against the Indian
federal government's proposed policy to provide reservations for an
array of socially and economically disadvantaged communities,
officially designated as Other Backward Classes (OBCs). It is
furthermore disappointing to note that such sentiment of holding on to
privilege and denial of real inequalities in India finds support among
Indian Americans in the SF Bay Area.
We call upon members of the Indian/Indian American community to reject positions that
seek to further upper-caste privilege at the expense of true social
justice, and seek solutions that truly benefit ALL of Indian society.
RESOURCES
Reservations for OBCs in India - Frequently Asked Questions
This FAQ provides a primer on the reservation debate
from FOSA's perspective and tries to address some of the common
questions, myths and misconceptions related to reservation policy in
India. Parts
of this FAQ appears in the article titled "The Furore Over
Reservations: A Primer" in the June 2006 issue of Siliconeer Magazine.
Some Statistics on the Distribution of Different Communities in Various Professions in India, and the Effects of Reservations
This
document presents data illustrating caste-based inequality as it exists
today in different professional sectors of society. It also presents
information on how reservations for SCs/STs over the past few decades,
has resulted in their greater representation in Indian bureaucracy.
UPDATES
June 9, 2006. Dismantling
Discrimination: NRI groups Welcome the Decision, Even if Belated, by
the Indian Government to Implement Reservations in Higher Education for
the Socially & Economically Backward Classes. Press Release
by Friends of South Asia (FOSA), The Ambedkar Center for Justice and Peace(ACJP),
The Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America (FeTNA) and The
Campaign to Stop Funding Hate (CSFH).
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