印度政府によるアファーマティヴ・アクション強化に反対する医師や大学生のストライキはどうなったのだろうか。16日のGuardianによれば、
ということである。
Doctors go on strike over affirmative action planRandeep Ramesh in Delhi
Tuesday May 16, 2006
Guardian
Hospital services across India were crippled yesterday as thousands of doctors and medical students launched strikes against an affirmative action plan to reserve more places in colleges for the "backward classes".Patients were left without treatment and their families shut out of wards as medical students went on "indefinite hunger strike". They were backed by doctors who walked out of hospitals.
The government wants a 25% quota for socially disadvantaged groups, in addition to the 22% of seats already reserved for "untouchable and tribal" students.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,329481242-111087,00.html
17日付けのRandeep Ramesh氏の記事*1によると、アファーマティヴ・アクションに反対する立場の言い分は、
というもの。他方で、アファーマティヴ・アクションを支持する方は、
"We feel very strongly that the student intake should be based on merit, not on birth," said Sajanjiv Singh, a 20-year-old medical student who is on hunger strike. "We do not even know what caste people are here, yet the politicians want to label us and use this as a factor in university admissions. It will mean fewer places for the talented."
Supporters of the affirmative action scheme say India's booming economy, which is growing by 8% a year, has only entrenched the inequalities of Indian society and drastic remedies are required.India's industry minister, Kamal Nath, told reporters over the weekend that growth needed to be "inclusive". The congress-led government is also considering laws to reserve jobs in private companies for people from disadvantaged groups.
ということだ。
"The upper castes have been able to buy their way into the country's best colleges by going to private schools and learning English. They can chase dollar jobs in Silicon Valley while the poor are left to rot," said Kancha Ilaiah, professor of politics at Osmania University in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad. "Quotas are a proven way of correcting historical caste discrimination."
また、カーストと貧困とは直接結びついていないという見解もある；
However, many argue that the time for affirmative action has passed in India. Dipankar Gupta, professor of sociology at Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University, says that as currently defined the quota system simply enables the "rural elite to get access to urban jobs".Prof Gupta points out that on the rating scale devised by the government, factors such as whether a person works in the fields or whether a community feels other castes resent it are rated to be three times more important than a group's poverty level. Such factors are also one and half times more important than if a community sends its children to school.
"Being a member of a backward class is not about economic or education backwardness but a perception of social status. It is a bogus way of assessing need. The only utility is a political calculation designed to attract votes. If you really wanted to help then why not improve the appalling state of primary education in India?"
なお、中国での報道としては、
新華社「印度大学絶食抗議種姓配額新政」『東方早報』2006年５月18日
