No Reservation Please

Dear government,

Whenever I reach to any place for an interview or selection the very first thing I do is go through the list of candidates . Not because I doubt on my capabilities but I fear that my “surname” might turn out to be a bain for me. Had I been a Brahman almost hundred years ago the situation might have been completely different.

But alas belonging to the so called superior hierarchy today has itself become a tragedy to me and especially to all those Brahman and Chhetri men who are systematically denied from opportunities just because they were born as Brahmans or Chhetris.

It might seem queer that a woman who is highly benefited by 33% reservation is writing this message but the provision itself seems and sounds like a fabricated favor to minorities (either women or men belonging to different ethnic groups) where they are proved to be less capable. Well the concept of reservation was brought up for a noble cause. But has this reservation actually been empowering people?

Well I don’t believe so. The system has crippled people in such a way that once the system ends all the people will be scattered into distorted mass. It has made people so much parasitic that tomorrow if they don’t get similar opportunities they will definitely choose the way of conflict and why not? Why to work hard day and night when the thing you pine for comes in your life with so less efforts just because you are an individual from minorities.

A Brahman needs to score above 85% while an individual from minority only needs to cross 70 %. A Brahman man has to spend years to obtain one thing while in very few efforts a man/woman from minority does it all in a snap.I am not undermining the efforts of those individual of minority but I know the pain when your efforts do not yield result automatically discouraging people and killing their motivation. Even the INGOS that belongs to countries like U.S.A and U.K which is guided by the principle that all are born equal drastically change their philosophies as soon as they step in Nepal and ask provisions for minorities. I hardly see Brahman and Chhetri men in INGOs and embassies as the vacancies favors a minority. Programs on empowerment of people belonging to minority are conducted in four star or five star hotels where the maximum funds are spent. The already empowered people are invited, speeches are delivered, delicacies are served, people exchange customary greetings and the fund as well as the program ends. Who is benefited here? The hotel owner and yes the organization for adding program in its list.

Until and unless you don’t reach to the root of the problem the situation will remain constant. I know it’s hard for you as well. When we cannot make all our family members happy however hard we try you have countless families to look after. But I also know that had my mother not treated me and my sister equally, it might have resulted into sibling rivalry. This system will not only create crevasses and gaps in the relation of  men and women or the people belonging to different ethnic groups which will be very difficult to bridge in but might also lead to communal riot. The bitterness might completely break these relationships. 

Example: A son/daughter of Madhesi, Janajati and Dalit doctor/industrialist/business tycoon has equal opportunity as a son/daughter of Brahmin and Chhetri to develop himself/herself. But rather then reaching to the financially weak and uneducated people, rich minority benefit from it. I have seen people getting selected for quotas by fooling the government officials where they study in private schools until grade nine and study at government schools in grade ten with home tutions to be applicable for the quota system. While a child whose family cannot even offer the child two meals a day has to sacrifice his/her aspirations as s/he was born Brahman. The people in Terai manage to live in a whatsoever manner while people in hilly and mountain regions die as they have no transportation facility and have to walk miles to even get to a health facility. There are many Brahmans in far western and mid western development region who are living lives which is even hard to imagine. In this case who seems the actual vulnerable?  Aren’t they the citizens of Nepal? Or should they be punished because some of the Brahmans have reached to a high post? Isn’t it your responsibility to address their needs and demands as well? The reservation for differently able people can be justifiable as their body doesn’t support them in every task. But others do have their hands and legs which can help them to gain success if they work hard. With 45% reservation seat and only 55% of free competition how can we expect quality?

You can take the example of the recent results of Tribhuvan University as well where many people were agitated as the toppers were Brahman. Does the government need to start a new system as a non minority topper and minority topper now? Or should people be judged by their capabilities?

Martin Luther King had once said in his speech that he envisions the world not to judge his children by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I too envision a Nepal where people get success by their hard work rather than their surname. Otherwise the day isn’t far where Brahmins will be the suppressed ones. I know very well how much the people from Dalit groups and Janajati groups had to suffer due to untouchability and how hard is it for them to emerge out from their past. But I also know injustice cannot be a solution for removing injustice. The  provision of reservation must be time bound. As our constitution isn’t rigid and can be reformed at required time changes must take place.

My only request to you is to help them to help themselves. Give equal opportunities to all. work on minimizing the differences between haves and have not's . Improve the quality of the government schools so that people will not have to migrate in Kathmandu and can live in their own places. Create a plane from where people of all sex, caste, creed and color can reach to any place as they wish and let them be on their own. Create an independent individual not a parasite. I hope another individual like me will not have to write a letter as such again in the years to come.

Yours Sincerely,

A Nepali citizen