Mandal 2 : The coming social unrest?

The past week has seen intensified protests by doctors and medical students over the contentious issue of reservations in professional institutions. Also the past week has seen the delusional HRD Minister, Arjun Singh rubbish every voice of sanity that has spoken out against the issue, be it the Knowledge Commission, his own cabinet colleagues and prominent industrialists. While whatever is going on in the mind of Mr. Singh is still as much a mystery, it is certain that octogenarians lifelong political dream of becoming prime minister is in the realms of being preposterous. The weekend also saw the police brutally assaulting doctors and peaceful protestors with scenes reminiscent of the Honda employees’ incident in Gurgaon. While whatever be the pre text of controlling a crowd, surely there are saner ways to deal with such a situation. Earlier this year, France saw similar scenes with the student community there up in arms against proposed legislation against the de Villepin government. However, the crowd control means employed by the French police was exemplary and our police force ought to take a leaf out the French ways of managing protests.

The past weeks protests have till now seen the anti-reservation protests all over the country. While this remains an issue of prime concern for the government, the more pressing concern is the waiting social unrest when the pro-reservation voices also take to the streets. The impending situation will certainly deteriorate the fragile balance that currently exists with the pro-reservation voice keeping a low profile at the moment. This potentially explosive situation has be on top of the Governments agenda apart from getting the crippled medical services back on track. As the days go by, the patients who are in desperate need of medical aid will need to be taken care of, this while the strike still goes on. The coming days don’t offer much hope unless of course the government comes with a credible plan to pacify both parties. However, today, the idea of a solution finding its way in the near future is wishful yet distant at best.

In all of this I do hope that the HRD minister also realizes that at the sunset of his political career his policies to change his image and become the messiah of the backward class will only ruin his political obituary. Couple that with the fact that I wonder if and when he is admitted in a hospital, which doctor will treat him, knowing fully well that this is the very gentleman that has caused grievous bodily harm not only to doctors but to the fragile balance of caste cauldron that exists in the country.