The crux of my argument in this write-up is that you just can’t produce meritorious people by a third rate, bogus system that inculcates and aspires to propagate mediocrity and wants to mass produce a breed of zombies that can be tamed and herded at will.
And that’s the reason why, I think, on November 16, 1992 the 9-judge bench of the Supreme Court said in Indra Sawhney vs Union of India case (popularly called the Mandal Commission case) that “there are some key posts and some specific fields where merit alone (emphasis mine) will count and no reservation rule shall apply.”
The 9-judge constitution bench justified the deviation from the reservation rule {(Article 15(4)} saying that “certain services and positions” merit exclusion from the general rule of reservation as they “call for highest level of intelligence, skill and excellence…….”
Call it elitism or racial discrimination, the fact remains that there is a class of knowledge that requires a certain level of intelligence and devotion that is found only in a select few — and it is they — the select few who deserve to be taught that esoteric knowledge.
This compulsive social necessity has been realised even by the socialist countries where they are being practiced with a varying degrees of success. Take for example the case of neighbouring China where the present leadership has opened elite schools to produce leaders for the future.
To drive home my point I am quoting an AFP (Agence France-Presse) report filed by Leo Ramirez on June 27, 2019 about “a secretive school in China’s capital.”
“Rows of students, mostly male” sit in red-covered chairs in a school dotted with statues of late Chinese leaders………They are being groomed to become elite members of the Communist Party.
I am quoting the AFP report verbatim:
“In particular, the students are learning the intricacies of “Xi Jinping Thought”.
President Xi is himself a former head of the Central Party School, but now his guiding philosophy is part of the curriculum for the cadres studying their way up the political ladder.
The usually highly secretive school in Beijing gave a rare tour to foreign media during a tightly controlled visit in June 2019.
The students are already stationed in the apparatus of the regime, such as the spokeswoman of the foreign ministry who was spotted during the visit. None were allowed to speak to the press.
“Through the theoretical education and the culture of the Party spirit, we strengthen the solidarity within the Party, we are here to serve the Party and the country’s governance,” said the vice-head of academic affairs of the Party School, Wang Gang.
In one classroom, rapt pupils listened to a giant video projection of Xi proclaiming that “the clear waters and the green mountains are as precious as the mountains of gold and silver”. The class was called “Xi Jinping Thought and Ecological Civilization”.
Established in 1933, approximately 1,600 students attend the school each semester, averaging about 40 years of age. On the training programme are courses on Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, and the theory of Deng — the architect of the late 1970s reforms that started China’s rapid economic take-off. But there is also content on economic, military and international issues.
Xi has demanded more party discipline since taking power, overseeing a crackdown on corruption that has punished more than 1.5 million officials. Under him, the party has also tightened its hold on society — an approach reflected in the ethos of the school.
“We obviously forbid any discussion or topics that would run counter to the major decisions made by the leaders,” Wang said. Yet “we also talk about the Cultural Revolution and the Tiananmen incident to better understand history and better choose the way forward,” Wang adds.
The bloody crackdown on Tiananmen Square protests in 1989 is a taboo topic in China while the Cultural Revolution, a period of social and political upheaval under Mao, is a sensitive subject.
The school used to be cut off from the world but today it allows its teachers to go abroad on exchanges, according to Chinese media. It has also welcomed renowned foreign visitors such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel, former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger or former UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon.
And the courses are in tune with current news, like the trade war with Washington.”