It would’ve been more appropriate if Subash Kak had titled his article as Cluless Congress. Ever since they’ve occupied the throne, the Congress has done everything but govern. The Sonia affair, the Irshat Jahan imbroglio, populism in Andhra, targetting of the Gujarat government, Sonia’s I’m-above-the-law announcement of providing relief to victims of the Tamil Nadu school tragedy, and the Punjab Water Affair. Oh, and I forgot to mention the din raised by its bedfellows cum bete noire, the Left, over the FDI issue.

The problem of Indian rural voters has always been the lack of education, or more appropriately, a spirit of enquiry (that sounds lofty!); this factor has enabled the Congress, which has always harped on eradicating poverty, yet has always succeeded in keeping them poorer. This will continue as long as people sell their votes for a sari/money/liquor.

Farmers are killing themselves also because the prices of the crops have collapsed. Even those who have insurance are often not served because it kicks in only if the yield of the mandal falls below the average of the last three years; it doesn’t address the question of the market prices. No wonder, after the announcement of free electricity, 300 more farmers have killed themselves in Andhra.

To divert focus from this, the Andhra Chief Minister has pulled another trick out of his sleeve: 5% quota to Muslims.

Reddy has now got back into the limelight with his announcement of 5 percent reservation in government jobs and educational institutions for the Muslim community.

It is good to be concerned about the Muslim community, as for any other community that is lagging in development. But blanket quota is hardly an appropriate instrument to deal with the problem. Such a broad-based reservation will be taken advantage of by segments of the population who are already economically well-off.

We’ve all seen the progress India has made thanks to Reservations. So let’s move on.

What if someone named Ramakrishnan writes on his form that he is a Muslim? Would he then be eligible for the Muslim quota? Or, would the government insist that only those who have Arabic or Persian names are eligible?

What if Ramakrishnan has truly converted to Islam and decided to keep his name? This should not be disallowed because the language of the name and religion need not be coupled. Indonesian Muslims continue to have Sanskrit names (example, Megawati Sukarnoputri). I know Americans with ‘Christian names’ who are Hindus, Buddhists, and Muslims.

Will the government draw up regulations regarding who qualifies to be a Muslim? Will one have to go to the mosque a certain number of times to be certified?

Now suppose Ramakrishnan has truly converted to Islam and been admitted to college and subsequently to a government job out of the religious quota. Further, suppose he has a change of heart and becomes a Hindu again. Will he lose his job?

What if someone has a Persian or an Arabic sounding name, but is actually a Hindu?

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To deal with them, the government will have to get into the personal life of individuals; the bureaucracy will have to be expanded. One can even think of thought police. Was this the intent of placing the term ’secular’ in the Constitution of the nation in the seventies?

Bwawaahaha! Bad enough we have thought polices already; the Secular Brigade which waxes eloquent on what is supposed to be communal, fundamentalist, etc. And the less said about the bureaucracy the better.

Wasn’t it Sardar Patel who had envisioned the Indian bureaucracy–more appropriately the IAS–as a premier institution to build modern India. I must say, they’ve done a fine job of it.