PRATAP BHANU MEHTA Economic and Political Weekly June 17, 2006
How should this agreement be accommodated in a democratic polity? How does one move beyond the banal statement that reasonable views must be respected, and give these views some institutional space...
It is something of a mystery that the one thing we seem not to acknowledge is that a concern for diversity is a concern for a diversity of institutional forms. Diversity need not be limited to a diversity of opinion where we say to each other, without quite meaning it, that we respect each others’ views. Surely there is more room to have those views, within some baseline limits, express themselves in diverse institutional forms. What those baseline limits are can be a subject of debate. They should not be set so low that serious moral values like non-discrimination are compromised. But they should not be set so high either that the range of permissible options shrinks to zero. Why should all institutions adopt exactly the same model of admissions? Why should they all perform exactly the same social role? Could we not think of different institutions as performing different roles and catering to different needs and demands? Email: pratapmehta@yahoo.co.in
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