Our country has several religions which can be further subdivided in to castes and sub-castes. We also have a large social imbalance where on the one hand we are part of the world's technological revolution and on the other, our people live in filthy slums. All communities are spread across this social spectrum in varying proportions. Poverty or backwardness is not restricted to any one particular community. Yet there is a prevalent idea in people's mindset that some castes are backward. Politicians created the concept of a 'minority' with the intention of identifying communities which are mostly socially backward. They had realized that if all minorities are put together, we get a majority and if they give some perks to each minority, a large section of the voters would get on their side.

Advanced countries like USA and UK are host to people from all over the world having a much wider variety in religions. But they have built a solid legal system that makes no distinction between people based on their community. They do not make attempts to please each and every community.

Religion is a personal aspect of life and every individual is allowed to practice his religion. However taxpayer's money cannot be spent in satisfying someone's personal faith. Not a single country in the world, not even Islamic countries, other than India spends money on sending people for Haj pilgrimages. Events such as the exposition of St. Francis Xavier are state events. They are linked to the identity of the state and hence it is acceptable that the government makes special provisions to facilitate them.

In Goa, any religious favour receives instant appreciation. During every festive season we see MLAs leaving no stone unturned in extending warm wishes. Some Goan voters for whom these wishes matter more than performance get influenced by these religious gestures of candidates. The amount of money spent in these pleasantries could have been well utilized on developing some infrastructure that improves people's lives. It is fairly easy to wish people. But the capability of a leader should be measured by the genuine work he does for the state.

The effects of pleasing some sections of the society and the security threats that result from it have been witnessed in Goa. When a community starts getting favours, people realize that the government is in their pocket and they are now free to do anything they want. The government does not interfere or question anything they do. A group of slum dwellers from Moti Dongor in Margao misbehaved in the market. When the locals questioned them, they came with swords. Criminals can have such a confidence only if they have political blessings.

When we buy vegetables, we do not think about the caste of the seller. We just buy the vegetables which are fresh. But when it comes to voting, somehow there is an thought that a candidate of a caste will work only for people of that caste. There is a concept of 'aamcho munis' in the mind. We Indians tend to treat our caste or religion not like a way of life but like a war clan that has to compete with other religions and come out victorious. There is always a sense of fear among people of every community that if the local leader does not belong to their religion or caste, they will find it hard to get their work done. States like Bihar suffered due to this mindset of caste-politics where people voted only based on caste. They later realized that this attitude had kept their state backward for several decades. The latest elections were a complete turnaround when the state unitedly voted for a government that had focused on development. If a relatively less educated state like Bihar can vote in favour of development, why can’t Goa?

It makes sense when reservations are given to people who did not get a chance to compete with other regular people due to conditions that were out of their control such as physical disabilities or social boycott. This was a humane intention when the concept of reservations was started in India. This was also designed to be time-bound so that after a fixed number of years, there would be no special provisions for anyone and all would be treated as equal. When politicians saw this as an opportunity for capturing votes, they made attempts so that people remained backward so that they could continue the concept of reservations. Surprisingly these politicians are called secular in India!

Reservations is a bad solution to the problem of backwardness. It results in under-qualified people getting placed in high positions, which in turn introduces inefficiencies in the system. If selectors choose a cricket team only based on religion such that each religion gets a proportionate representation, the team will not have the best players in the country. That is the reason, a team is built solely on the basis of performance.

When individual communities are pampered, we are compromising with the state’s security. There is no such thing as a minority community as far as the govt is concerned. All citizens should be treated as equal.