Editorial
EWS Judgment, A Landmark Verdict of the Indian Supreme Court
Endorsing the Government’s 10% quota for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) of the society, the Supreme Court of India delivered a landmark judgment. It is a big win for the Modi-led BJP Government. Ever since the independence, political parties all over India used the ‘Reservation Card’ to lure the marginalized sections of the society. Particularly the ‘so called social justice champions’ like DK, DMK and Communists have created an illusion of inclusive politics. But the same parties, haven’t included a single member of a Dalit and other scheduled tribes in their party posts. In the case of DMK, it is even pathetic. A party completed 75+ years of existence not even elected a single SC / ST candidate for the top posts like party leader, general secretary, treasurer etc. And this verdict of the apex court certainly gave a big slap to those kind of caste-driven vote politics. It is also a good counter measure to the one-sided Mandal Commission recommendations of the bygone era. The Nation is changing, so is the mindset of people. The parties like DMK and Communist no longer fool the public with their staple ‘Social Justice Drama.’ Those days are clearly over. Now, we enter the era of meaningful, development economics driven politics.
While delivering this historic judgment, the court also guaranteed to the marginalized people that the quota is not discriminatory and does not alter the basic structure of the constitution in any manner. The government argued that the quota would help bring people out of poverty and would not cut into existing reservation for backward classes or reduce seats for the general category. That means the existing 50% limit for the reservation won’t be reduced. Above all, one of the judges in the three-member bench, Justice JB Pardiwala, said reservation should not continue for an indefinite time period, so that it becomes a vested interest. "The ones who have moved ahead should be removed from backward classes so that ones in need can be helped. The ways to determine backward classes need a re- look so that ways are relevant in today's time," said the judge. And what he said is the reflection of millions of people. For the past 3 decades, on several instances, judges of the Supreme Court gave their opinion about the continuation of reservation indefinitely. However, this is not respected by the ‘vote-hungry’ political parties. And this verdict forced every to re-look the very idea of ‘reservation’ with a new perspective.
By
Editor-in-chief
INSTANEWSGRAM