E-Paper
Arjun?s guru in rebel camp
Students fighting against Mandal-II can rejoice. The gods are not with Arjun Singh on this one. Neither is his guru. Mauni Baba ? whose clout with the divine is believed to have lifted the HRD minister?s sagging political career many times ? appears to have switched sides. On Monday, about 100 students of Youth For Equality met him at Ganga Ghat to convince his disciple not to slaughter merit in the name of reservation.
Students fighting against Mandal-II can rejoice. The gods are not with Arjun Singh on this one. Neither is his guru.
Mauni Baba — whose clout with the divine is believed to have lifted the HRD minister’s sagging political career many times — appears to have switched sides.
On Monday, about 100 students of Youth For Equality met him at Ganga Ghat to convince his disciple not to slaughter merit in the name of reservation.
The guru invited one student, Kunal Choudhary, into his ashram and heard out his plea. “We hope you would advise your chela (Singh) not to ignore the future of youths,” read the students’ memorandum.
When the guru spoke — or rather scribbled on a slate as the holy man does not speak — Kunal couldn’t believe his eyes. Mauni Baba agreed that reservation should be based on economic status and not caste or religion. But the unkindest cut for the HRD minister came at the end. Victory, Mauni Baba told the students, would be theirs. Dear minister, it’s time to pray.
