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University Daily Kansan
Friday, Nov. 1, 1963
India 'Compensates' for Caste Treatment
As Americans are being rudely awakened in their ivory towers to find a Negro sitting on the bed with court order in hand, cries go up that the federal government is being discriminatory—against the whites.
"Our constitutional rights are being infringed upon" is the statement exchanged across the backyard fence now that the initial indifference has been swept away.
But unlike many of the minorities of the white population which reflect only prejudice and ignorance, the white man is quite correct when he states his rights are being squeezed and the government is giving the Negro "over-opportunity."
"COMPENSATORY opportunity" has become synonymous with hypocrisy to many persons. But up till now, the federal government has not launched any program which entails any obvious element of this compensatory opportunity.
What will happen when and if such legislation comes? In what form will it come? A look at overpopulated India may help preview what may evolve in the U.S.
In 1948 Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru undertook a federal program to rid India of its caste system. The system was at the time even more a part of the socially accepted mores of the Indian culture than segregation has been in the United States.
Initially, he simply outlawed the rulings of "untouchability" in India by legislative action, sweeping out an integral part of the Indian's culture. However, much as legislative backing doesn't educate the Negro or give him a job in the U.S., so was the " untouchable" unable to achieve a level of equality in India.
THE INDIAN government then initiated a legislative program of "protective discrimination," the Indian term for our "compensatory opportunity." This program, geared to insure quick effect, took the following forms: (1) reserved seats in the legislature, (2) reserved posts in government service and (3) special aid in educational and economic aid.
Untouchables are referred to by their constitutional designation, Scheduled Castes and Tribes and
by the name Mahatma Gandhi gave them, Harijans, which means children of God.
Reservation of seats in the legislature is proportionate to the number of Harijans populating the representative states. This system was supposed to have terminated in 1960 but was extended another 10 years by amendment.
At present the lower house of parliament (as paralleled to the British system of government) reserves 76 of its 500 seats for Harijans. Collectively, the Harijans constitute about one-seventh of the population.
IN 1950, THE government decided to reserve $12\frac{1}{2}$ per cent of all civil service jobs for Harijans. This was done in accordance to Article 335 which states that "The claims of the members of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes shall be taken into consideration, consistently with the maintenance of efficiency of administration, in the making of appointments to services and posts in connection with the affairs of the Union or of a state."
Special concessions have been made in the qualifications needed for a job in order to fill the quota of reserved posts for Harijans. The age limit for their recruitment has been raised, their examination fees have been reduced to almost nothing, and appointing officers have been given considerable discretion to waive requirements in the cases of Harijian applicants.
A number of the state governments also have established quotas for Harijan employment. But despite such efforts, Harijan representation in government has only increased slowly. This is mainly due to the lack of suitable candidates.
This points up still a more basic and familiar problem, that of education and economic aid so the Harijans can prepare themselves for such significance. Indeed, we in the United States have made similar breakthroughs in terms of Negro employment in civil service positions and government offices. But the mass of Negroes—and the mass of Harijans—still suffer.
SO IN ARTICLE 46 of the Indian constitution, the following provision is made: "The state shall promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people and, in particular, of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes." States have gone so far as to establish Harijan welfare departments which administer numerous and varied programs supported by large grants from the Indian government.
Harijian children may obtain free tuition, stipends, scholarships, books, stationery, and sometimes free clothing and noon meals. Special schools for Harijans have been built (but of superior quality and not for purposes of segregating them).
Also, the Indian government's program of aid for college study has had far-reaching success. In 1954-5, the number of students who received such scholarships was about 10,000. By 1958-9 the number had risen to more than 32,000.
Harijan welfare departments have established programs which sponsor projects such as reclamation of wasteland for the Harijans, irrigation, and the construction of wells and house sites. Credit cooperatives also have been established to make it easier for the Harijans to purchase basic materials with which they can produce more food.
LOOKING OVER these three main areas of action in which the Indian government is so far ahead of the U.S., it is obvious that both countries share a common problem. There seems to be no EFFECTIVE way to establish equality among a people who have practiced discrimination and subjected part of their number to inequality without first taking away a few rights which long have been assumed by the dominant people.
Prime Minister Nehru, in 1951, argued for an amendment to the constitution which would read that "Nothing in article 29 (which states the recognized equality of each individual) shall prevent the state from making any special provision for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Classes and Scheduled Tribes."
Nehru stated that the nation must give up the interpretation of strict equality in favor of gradual elimination of the inequalities to which the lower classes had been
Afghans Struggle to Improve
Modern buildings cast mid-afternoon shadows on mud huts in Afghanistan. There are sleek boulevards and crowded, dirty market areas. There are swamplands bordered by deserts. There is a poor, but gradually rising, economy aided by contributions from other countries. There are too many people with too many different ways of life. Yet, Afghanistan is trying. The country wants to be a democracy.
Technically, Afghanistan has been somewhat of a democracy since the early 1930's, when all male citizens 21 years and older were allowed to vote. The government is made up of elected councils and a parliament. But democracy in Afghanistan is a farce.
CANDIDATES FOR national assembly in Afghanistan's parliament are selected by the Afghan king. The senate is appointed by the king. Five governmental segments, from a provincial council down to a town or municipal council, are all "informally" elected.
The repercussions of the misuse of the Afghan political system are many. There are more than 13 million people in the country. According to law, the Afghan national assembly should have about 130 elected members. Instead, it averages between 180 to 150. Gerrymandering is common.
The people seldom know who the candidates for public office are, and today few really care. Many of the voters never even bother to learn where the polling stations are.
PARALLEL WITH the undue control of the central government is the Afghan royal family's firm grip on the country's politics. The
royalty has complete control over the candidates, elections and, consequently, the government. Afghanistan wants a democratic system, yet the government has failed to pass from the king to the people
Some Communist influence is evident in Afghanistan, but this has been in the form of aid for development and is more of a social effect in the country. Equal assistance from the West, principally the United States, offsets the Russian efforts, also. Politically, the Afghans have been mostly on their own and probably will remain that way.
Despite the complications, the fight for democracy is far from lost in Afghanistan. King Mohammed Zahir could turn the tide himself. In a sudden reversal, he recently proposed a new constitution for Afghanistan. It is a constitution which would give the government to the people, excluding members of the royal family.
THE AFGHAN RADIO and press outlets have never enjoyed the freedom that should accompany a democratic system. The government controls all public information, but still, the bulk of opposition to the government comes from the stifled press through periodic outbursts which slip by the censors.
A long-shot chance is the "jir-gah," the smallest governing body in Afghanistan, and, ironically, probably the most democratic. It is the governing body of the Afghan villages and nomadic camps. It is the only such institution in the country which has completely free elections and independent candidates, and has become so powerful that the central government cannot control it.
MANY "JIRGAHS" try nearly 90 per cent of the criminal cases in their respective villages. The jirgah," and the same was true important problems in the area whenever the need arises.
There are barriers facing these two solutions, though. First of all, can King Zahir afford to give the control of the government to the people? Ninety per cent of the Afghan population is illiterate, and an ineffective education system and a current population explosion discourage any immediate change, also, if the royalty is to be left out of Afghan politics, then it will have to be determined just who are members of the royal family. Succession problems are nothing new in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan's "jirgahs" have even combined at times — the "loy jirgah" — to decide on matters of greatest national interest. The nation's neutrality during World War II was the decision of the "loy jirgah" and the same was true with the final confirmation of King Mohammed Zahir's succession to the throne.
The "jirgah's" power has always been an unknown element in Afghanistan, probably even among the institution's own members. Because most of the members of the "jirgahs" are nomads or farmers, they meet only when it is necessary. Running the country's government is a full-time job for politicians, and the "jirgahs" have neither the time nor the politicians.
Whatever path the leaders in Afghanistan choose, it will be a rocky one.
Terry Ostmeyer
HE DECLARED. "In raising the backward classes equality was the ultimate goal, but the paradox was that in trying to attain equality, we come up against certain principles of equality laid down in the constitution. While aiming ultimately at a casteless society in which individuals would not think in terms of group loyalties but of the country at large, the government can still not ignore the present divisions in Indian social life."
subjected.
Indian social life—American social life—civilization in general.
Bird, Jealousy, Wealth Important in Malaysia
Equality among a people is a necessity. But how, and when, and by whom. If America does choose the "how" of compensatory opportunity, no doubt we shall have a different program than India's, according to social and political differences. However, it has been proved, and accepted by the society in which it occurred, that some degree of compensatory opportunity must be given the minority group or economic class discriminated against to raise it to level of social equality with its old "superiors."
What possible connection could there be between a Garuda, a Jayhawk and a Kansas 4-H girl with a lot of rusty sewing machines?
About a month ago, a youthful mob, escorted by motorcycle police, dragged a Garuda through the streets of Kuala Lumpur, Malaya, and onto the lawn at Abdul Rahman's official residence. There, they lifted the Tunku onto their shoulders, then lowered him so that he could put his feet on the battered Garuda.
Perhaps a little story telling will clear the confusion.
TWO MONTHS prior to that, 19-year-old June Jensby, a Webber, Kans., 4-H girl working with the Peace Corps in North Borneo, found that many homes in her district had rusty Singer sewing machines, but nobody knew how to work them. With a little ingenuity, she oiled the machines and began giving sewing lessons. She was soon showing the natives how to play volleyball, build latrines, and make jam from bananas.
Dennis Bowers
Now, the Garuda is a mythical bird—the national symbol of Indonesia, much as the Jayhawk belongs only to KU. And Tunku (prince) Abdul Rahman has been one of the prime movers behind the new Federation of Malaysia, which includes Malaya (and the capital city of Kuala Lumpur), North Borneo (with June Jensby), Singapore (the famous port trading center), and Sarawak (a previous British dependency on the island of Borneo).
The mob, raging through the streets with Indonesia's bird-symbol, was retaliating for a similar three-day rampage the Indonesians had staged protesting the birth of the new federation, a British Commonwealth nation.
THE CRUX OF the excitement is that Indonesia's President Sukarno bitterly opposes Malaysia since it threatens his influence in Southeast Asia. It also provides a crescent-shaped pro-western buffer zone between his Communist ambitions and the giant Red shadow of China.
Jealousy is a big factor too. Indonesia has a population of about 100 million, 10 times that of Malaysia. Yet the smaller nation is by far the more prosperous of the two. While Sukarno's people exist in extreme poverty, the Malaysians enjoy a potential wealth second only to that of Japan in the Far East.
Malavsia was formed because, as
single independent states, the four nations now joined together would have been sitting ducks for their enemies. It was primarily a geographic decision. Religiously and ethnically the Federation is far from being naturally unified.
RADIO MALAYSIA constantly appeals to patriotism and unity amongst the native Malays and their more numerous Indian and Chinese countrymen.
Sukarno seems to be using the birth of his new neighbor-state as a diversion, shifting his people's attention from their own misery to the "threat" of Malaysia.
So far there have been diplomatic retaliations on both sides, and a few border incidents, but little real fighting. The United States has placed a freeze on any new economic aid to Indonesia and has suspended participation in a $250 million economic stabilization program.
Britain, Australia, and New Zealand have promised strong support to deter any sinister attack on their sister Commonwealth nation.
IN KUALA PILAH, near the Malaysian capital city, more than 5,000 persons recently carried banners through the streets and shouted slogans as part of an anti-Sukarno rally.
At almost the same time, in Jakarta. Indonesia's foreign minister was declaring that Great Britain has been trying to keep the Malaysians off guard so she could maintain "her beneficial position" in the new Federation.
He also went out of his way to accuse the British of using the Federation as a base to encircle Indonesia and undermine his country's interests.
DESPITE ALL THIS, the situation is far from being as desperate as conditions in South Vietnam or Laos, and the hope is that a stable free-world link eventually will emerge in this strategic corner of the globe.
But it is interesting to know that we do share the symbolism of the Indonesians and the human values and pride of independence of the struggling people of Malaysia.
As for the Garuda and the Indonesian people it represents, such international servants as June Jensby, her home-state supporters here in Kansas, and the hopeful inhabitants of all the nations of the Far East, the chances for working together toward peaceful co-operation seem momentarily stymied.
—Larry Schmidt
DailuTransan
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