The “reservations” debate has been with us for centuries and is really about political power. Government jobs have been the focus of India’s ambitious classes for ever. Akbar’s enduring popularity with all sections of Indians rises from the fact that he opened up court appointments and Mansabdari positions, formerly reserved for Moslems, to previously derided Hindoos also which upset sections of the erstwhile elite and the Mohammedan clergy. The official historian of Pakistan, I.H. Qureshi, maintains that this single act of Akbar’s was most responsible for weakening imperial Moslem power in India. One of the first resolutions of the Indian National Congress was the demand that more Indians should be appointed to government jobs, especially in the coveted Indian Civil Service. Dadabhai Naoroji was a persuasive critic of discrimination against “qualified” Indians. The British used subtle tactics like holding the ICS examinations only in England, insisting on horse-riding expertise for qualification, etc, in order to exclude Indians, going against the spirit of Queen Victoria’s proclamation which promised equal access to all subjects of her empire. It was only in the second decade of the 20th century that a single examination centre in India (Allahabad) was set up following incessant nationalist agitation.

British administrators argued that such inclusive measures in senior government employment benefited only Indian upper classes (the creamy layer of that time) and not the poor peasant who was better off under impartial British District Commissioners. And guess what, in the Bombay Presidency, Shahu Maharaj of the princely state of Kolhapur came to a similar conclusion. The only Indians who seemed to be benefiting were Parsees and Brahmins (mainly of the Chitpavan persuasion)! He along with others started a movement to ensure that Indians outside of this creamy layer benefited. The Maharaja of Mysore and the Justice Party in Madras formalised their opposition by setting up quotas to limit Brahmin monopolies in government employment.

... contd.