Sir — The lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court has stayed caste-based rallies organised by political parties in Uttar Pradesh. It is a great decision and must be extended to the rest of the country as well. Modern India should be above caste politics. In fact, even British-ruled India rightly dropped the caste factor from various considerations. Caste has no relevance in the India of the 21st century. The stratification of people along caste lines is a political gimmick and has done nothing to improve the lot of those sections of the population that most need empowerment. Had the tactic employed by our politicians worked, there would have been no need to demand more and more reservations.
Politicians who exploit the caste factor are indeed enemies of the nation. Caste is the mark of an orthodox society. It serves no positive purpose, and is an impediment to economic development. It runs counter to the country’s ambition to become a super-power. To fulfil their own ambitions, our politicians want to drag India back by a few centuries. A caste-based political agenda ruins the country in the same way that regional politics harms national integration.