Hats off to Justice Gavai

The decision of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, who took the decision to provide 27 percent reservation for the OBC category for the first time in the 75-year history of the Supreme Court, can be described as a historic decision. The reservation has been implemented in the posts of Registrars, Senior Personal Assistant, Assistant Librarian, Junior Court Assistant, Chamber Attendant etc. in the Supreme Court. When the reservation is fully implemented, at least 700 employees will be from the OBC category. There are a total of 2577 non-judicial employees in the Supreme Court.

Reservation has also been made for the physically challenged, ex-servicemen and dependents of freedom fighters. Reservation has been made for the OBC category after the SCs had been given 15 per cent reservation and the STs 7.5 per cent in appointments and promotions. It is worth notable that it took a Chief Justice from the Dalit community to take this historic decision. The Chief Justice has proven through this action that justice is needed not in words but in deeds. This supreme action of Justice Gavai will be remembered forever. In fact, Justice Gavai has uncovered the hypocrisy that was plaguing the Supreme Court itself. One of the most important spiritual principles of India is that one should not prescribe for others what one does not practice. However, even those who have established themselves as preachers of spirituality in India had maintained a stark difference in word and deed.

There have been many instances where it has to be suspected that even the presentation of spirituality was intended to fool those in the lower strata of society. Many scholars, interpreting even the Vedic principles, have interpreted the Chaathur‍var‍nyam system as a creation of God and therefore those born in the caste that the elite have determined to be low should not only survive by performing low-level jobs but also think that it is God's will and should endure everything. Sree Narayana Gurudeva, who exhorted that man has only one caste and that is humanity, attacked the attempts to separate and exploit people in the name of pseudo-spirituality, albeit calmly, with the force of a storm. There is only one truth, and there is no difference between one truth for the upper caste and another for the lower caste. That difference is created by those who have been using various magic tricks over time to keep the lower castes as water carriers and wood cutters as part of their comforts.

India's rich culture and spirituality are not the heritage of any particular section. It is accessible to anyone who seeks inner harmony with a pure heart, regardless of caste, religion, or colour. For centuries, those who ruled and their followers had built fortresses and kept the lower classes away from even the edge of power. Reservation is the fiery weapon of democracy that broke those fortresses in many places. The fact that the same reservations will finally be implemented in the non-judicial posts of the Supreme Court will bring happiness to the majority of the people of India. However, if the dream of the backward classes is to be fulfilled, reservation must also be implemented in the appointments of judges in the Supreme Court. That is not far off. Let us wait for that.