Pratap bhai,

Let me begin by complimenting you on your letter of resignation to the Prime Minister, not just for its craft, but for the rare courage it displays. An intellectual upholding his convictions and standing up to political power fills me with admiration even when, as in this case, I don’t quite agree with the cause. Your letter enabled me to think more clearly than I would otherwise have; it gave me the courage to state my differences with you.

Before I turn to the many differences, let me begin by noting one fundamental point of agreement with you. I share your despair about there being little room for thinking about social justice in a new paradigm. It is sad that political and intellectual advocates of social justice are simply not prepared to think beyond reservation as the only instrument and caste as the sole criterion. I also agree that the government’s proposed solution — phased introduction of a quota and expansion of the numbers of seats — sidesteps some of the most serious questions: substantial differences within different jatis belonging to the OBCs from different regions, relative disadvantage of women within OBCs and the disadvantages faced by non-OBCs.

I would have liked to extend this area of agreement, if only I knew what exactly you and your majority colleagues in the National Knowledge Commission stood for. In operational terms all we got was a cryptic verdict: continuing the practice of no affirmative action in higher education is better than caste-based quota. I know the NKC said it firmly believed in affirmative action. You say that you recognise the reality of caste. But I don’t know what to make of these statements as long as there is no scheme or proposal to give effect to these. As you know Professor Satish Deshpande and I have been involved in an exercise that addressed these concerns and have proposed a scheme of calculating disadvantage points that takes into account caste and other inequalities that exist in our society. The NKC could have given a more carefully worked out solution.

... contd.