Saturday, April 9, 2011

Reflection on the days of V P Singh

I had admired and liked V P Singh because of a project we were involved in. I know many opposed him.

I was disappointed once he became the PM. He no longer seemed relaxed. His speeches on tv were now un-inspiring.

I do not remember what I felt about Mandal but did feel that some form of positive discrimination for the deprived sections of the society was needed. However, I was horrified by Newstrack - it was the probably the only non-governmental muti-media. It was aimed directly at the well-off middle class who had access to video players. It seemed to me that Newstrack was encouraging students to immolate themselves. It was a middle class 'revolution'.

V P Singh's government fell but not a single government or major party since has expressed opposition to Mandal commission recommendations!

I recently returned from Mumbai to Chandigarh directly by flight. Had I come via Delhi I would have been stranded. Many trains, including Shatabadi trains to Chandigarh, were cancelled thanks to a 'revolution' by the Jats of Haryana for reservations - a 'revolution' not covered extensively by our news channels.

To quote from Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse 5 - "So it goes."

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