Throwback Thursday: When Rajiv Gandhi questioned Mandal report move amid Kashmir tension | India News

NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh on Thursday questioned the timing of caste census announcement by the NDA government claiming it was done to deflect attention from the Pahalgam terror attack.
“The entire nation was waiting to see how the government would act to reclaim Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and eliminate terrorists. Instead, 26 unarmed and innocent tourists were killed. Terrorists challenged us on our own soil, and the government is trying to distract people by bringing up the caste census issue,” the Rajya Sabha MP said.
“More than 2,000 people were present in Pahalgam, and yet terrorists came and killed at will. This is a direct failure of the Modi government. The government must answer and take responsibility. Instead, the prime minister chose to leave an all-party meeting and campaign for elections in Bihar,” Singh said.
Interestingly, when former Prime Minister VP Singh had announced the implementation of the Mandal Commission report in 1990, his timing was also questioned by the then opposition led by Congress citing the situation in Kashmir.

Rajiv Gandhi’s 1990 speech with Kashmir echo

Back in 1990, when then Prime Minister VP Singh announced the implementation of the Mandal Commission report, which introduced 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in central government jobs, he faced sharp criticism from the opposition, including Congress led by Rajiv Gandhi.
In his Lok Sabha on September 6, 1990, Rajiv Gandhi questioned the timing of the government’s move to implement the Mandal Commission report in the backdrop of Kashmir tension.
“Sir, when one looks at the timing of the announcement made by the Prime Minister, a very important factor comes up. This is a time when the nation is going through a number of very serious, perhaps even severe problems. The situation in Kashmir is worse than it has ever been since independence. The situation in Punjab is again perhaps worse than it has ever been … In fact the Prime Minister, if I remember correctly, speaking in this very House, had asked the nation to be prepared for war or some such words—psychologically prepared for war,” Rajiv Gandhi had said.
This was the time when militancy was at its peak, and the early months of 1990 had witnessed the killing of several Kashmiri Hindus, triggering their exodus from the Valley. VP Singh had faced mounting pressure over the Kashmir situation and the forced migration of Kashmiri Pandits.
Rajiv Gandhi had also cited North-South divide at that time. “Then, apart from that, we already have North-South tension brewing on the question of language because certain Chief Minister who belong to the ruling party here at the Centre have raised the issue of language and caused a North-South divide,” he had said.
Cut to 2025, war of words between the central government and the southern states continue over alleged Hindi imposition via National Education Policy and delimitation exercise.