There is currently a major uproar in India about proposed legislation that would reserve 49.5% of the places in Universities and private colleges for applicants from specifically names castes in India's caste system. The proposed legislation does not take into account the economic circumstances of the applicant, merely his or her caste.
Detractors of the proposed legislation suggest that it is reverse discrimination - deserving students of "higher" castes will be denied places in favor of students of "lower" castes. Proponents of course, claim that this legislation will right the wrongs of centuries of oppression of the lower castes by the higher.
Skeptics suggest that the proposed legislation is a populist measure that plays to the large "lower caste vote bank" intending to get them energized to vote in the next election. Sounds awfully like the current debate in the US Congress on the constitutional amendment relating to gay marriage doesn't it?
For a lively debate on the topic I would direct you to the excellent blog by Peter Foster of the Daily Telegraph.
India
Constitution
Reservations
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