A Communal Award was introduced by British Viceroy i9n India, Mr Ramsay Mac Donald on the 16th of August, 1932. Its basic premise was reservations in seats for elections to the Provinces for various groups based upon religion, caste and class. Reserved constituencies were envisaged for the Muslims, Europeans, Indian Christians, Anglo-Indians, Siks, Marathas and the depressed castes. The benefits were also extended to traders, landlords, tea-plantation owners, businessmen and labours. All provisions were for only ten years. This is the genesis of the Reservation malady afflicting India ever since. Mahatma Gandhi opposed the appropriately termed 'Communal Award' as it was an open instigation by the British to divide the Indians and perpetuate their rule. He went on a fast unto death in Yerawada jail at Pune, where he was then incarcerated by the British, to stall this divisive accord. It finally culminated in the Poona Pact on 22nd September, 1932. Mr Madanmohan Malviya and Bhimrao Ambedkar with others, signed a compromise deal. The seeds for partition of India and the division of its society, on the basis of religion and caste were sown. Instead of the expected ten years' period, reservations for various castes now continue in perpetuation. At the time of framing of the Constitution post independence in 1947, heated discussions ensued in the committee. Dr Ambedkar and others now demanded reservations in professional education and jobs for the depressed castes. These castes were kept at the bottom of the social hierarchy. A group which languished for ages in poverty as per the doctrine of Hindu sage, Manu, finally found voice in a Democracy. Redemption was sought and got through Government largesse. The smouldering embers of reservations based upon caste have been burning ever since. Just as Mahatma Gandhi had forseen, dividing the Indian society and deepening the chasms between castes. In the 1970s, the professional class, now clubbed as Other Backward Castes, (OBC) found voice through politicians trying to make a capital out of it. Prime Minister Morarji Desai, on the first of January 1979, formed a Commission under Mr B.P.Mandal to study the issue. A report was submitted in 1980 stating that the OBCs formed 52% of the population and suggested a 27% reservations in professional courses like medicine, engineering, higher education and all Government and public sector jobs. Mrs Indira Gandhi had now become the Prime Minister. The report was put under cold storage. In the winter of 1989, a Machiavellian Mr V.P. Singh, became the Prime Minister of a minority government. Faced with revolt within his fledgling motely coalition, he unleashed the genie of Mandal from the bottle. 27% reservations for the OBCs was declared taking the overall figure to 50%. There was a sudden chaos an anarchy all over the country. Students from the communities which had no reservations found the doors closing on them in higher education and jobs. They took to the streets. Many youths committed self immolation in public. Yet, Mr V.P. Singh did not relent expecting electoral gains from the OBCs. The split caused in the society is only widening with each passing year as the population burgeons and job opportunities shrink. Those left behind in the preferential reservations now are the Kshatriyas, the marital class with their sub sects and the priestly learned Brahmins. The Kshatriyas and their ilk had acquired substantial portion of the land over the years and had become an agrarian class. As the generations passed, the land was divided and sub-divided into smaller farms, many of which are not cost-effective to cultivate. New generations from this rural class now migrate to towns and cities. Due to the lack of proper education they cannot compete with the upward mobile urban dwellers. So this huge mass, constituting one fifth of the population, are now up in arms. From Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat to Maharashtra. They too want reservations! With the strong numerical presence and relatively well-off conditions, the Jats, Patels and Marathas are on the streets. Huge congregations are repeatedly taking a belligerent stance, stalling traffic on highways, violence and destruction of public properties. Disgruntled politicians are adding fuel to fire and kindling arson, riots and violence. They see an opportunity to unseat the present disepention and slyly get back in the saddle of power and wealth. The Communal Award of Ramsay Mac Donald continues to create divisions and sub-divisions in the Indian society. Even after a hundred years of its inception. In exactly the same way as Mahatma Gandhi had forseen.
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