India should think on whether reservation is needed: JNU Prof

Bhopal, June 4 (UNI) The time is ripe for India to seriously deliberate on whether the system of reservation is required at all, feels a political analyst and academician.

''The system, which has become a medium for political appeasement, is not needed in the present context,'' Prof Pushpesh Pant, who is on the faculty of JNU's School of International Studies and was here to take part in the Suryabahadur Pathak Memorial Lecture Series, told reporters.

Pointing out that Rajasthan's just-concluded violent, pro-reservation Gurjar agitation -- which spread to Delhi and a few other states -- would definitely accelerate casteist polarisation in the Desert State, he added that reservation was like a box that yields a storm everytime it is opened.

''The country has been witness to reservation-linked storms of recent years. Political leaders made organised attempts to present the Supreme Court's related rulings as a confrontation between the judiciary and Parliament and to make the latter's decisions seem higher,'' Prof Pant alleged.

In the context of the recent Uttar Pradesh hustings, he felt that the Congress' situation seemed to make it evident that the party and its Amethi MP Rahul Gandhi might not be able to achieve a miracle in that state in the 2009 general election.

''The Congress is hoping that it will reap the benefit of a future anti-establishment factor in Uttar Pradesh and that will be the opportune moment for Rahul 's claim as a powerful leader,'' the Professor explained.

UNI