By Moin Qazi, The Chicago Monitor
We are back to debating reservations [quotas] in India. The argument in favor of affirmative action — for groups that suffer substantial, pervasive and abiding forms of disadvantage — is compelling. Such disadvantage is self-perpetuating. Given the mechanics of social power and its translatability into political, cultural and economic power, external intervention is essential to break the vicious cycle. The demand for affirmative action for Muslims which has been underlined by several government commissions has been further revived by the address of Mr. Hamid Anasri the Vice President of India at the golden jubilee celebrations of All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat, an umbrella of several mainstream Muslim organizations. Describing as “commendable” the “official objective of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, the government’s policy initiative for inclusive development, he emphasized that “a pre-requisite for this is affirmative action (where necessary) to ensure a common starting point.”
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