The opposition especially the Congress party has put forward some serious political questions before the ruling bjp dispensation. It’s high time that serious debates be initiated as they are the only way forward in difficult times. The onus of initiating such debates lies on the opposition and yesterday the Congress party through its leadership and spokesperson has presented the initial questions and the government should decide on the forum of debate. The issue of caste census and reservations was articulated by the leader of opposition in an informal meeting with students from Delhi university. He called “not found suitable” as the new paraphrasing of ‘Manuvad’. This is a question on the notion of and tools of ascertaining merit. The caste hierarchy has justified itself through a presumption of innate meritorious traits within the upper caste and their absence in the lower caste. “Not found suitable” as a category is institutionalizing this prejudice. Further he said that the current struggle for caste census and representation was only a struggle for representation and that it needed to graduate from it to a struggle for power which would lead to real transformation of the society. Its spokesperson Pawan khera raised serious questions on the foreign policy of India, failing to safeguard the country’s interests in the aftermath of the pahalgam crisis and operation sindoor. The overpowering presence and appropriation of national discourse by right wing trolls to the extent that has intimidated the government itself is also a serious concern and may explain many of the failures both omissions and commissions of the government. The total alienation of the opposition from the state space for the entirety of the last decade by the government is another such issue. These are a scaffolding for the debate. The government may choose the format and the forum but needs to respond to it immediately.
Don’t deny the nation of its debates
