Intelligence has never been the forte of The Print columnist and self-described ‘liberal’ Shivam Vij, who recently had an embarrassing moment when he shot himself in the foot in an attempt to attack the upper caste population living in Bihar.
Vij, who seems intellectually challenged if his utterances on X, formerly known as Twitter, are considered a credible indicator of his mental fitness, recently questioned why 15.5 per cent of the upper caste population in Bihar commands a 50 per cent quota in reservations.
Taking to X, Vij shared the results of the Bihar caste census released by the JDU-RJD government earlier today. The author, who has authored columns for various portals, including Shekhar Gupta’s The Print, provided a percentage-wise caste breakdown of different communities living in Bihar.
The EBC forms 36 per cent of Bihar’s population, Backward classes 27 per cent, Scheduled Castes 19 per cent, Upper castes 15.5 per cent, and Scheduled Tribes 1.8 per cent. Shivam’s gripe, however, was with the Upper Castes that form 15.5 per cent of the total population living in Bihar.
In a display of hilarious tomfoolery, Vij asked why 15.5 per cent of the population has 50 per cent of the quota. And before long, a raft of X users descended on his timeline and on the social media platform to point out the glaring flaw in his logic.
Popular X user Gabbbar Singh took a dig at Vij, referring to him as the JNU humanities expert and highlighting his dimwittedness. The user rightly pointed out that everyone, including the reserved classes, can fight for the remaining 50 per cent unreserved.
JNU product humanities expert. 50% is unreserved. Everybody can fight for those seats. All castes. Aise to chutiye bhare hai. pic.twitter.com/PJL5PrT4Br
— Gabbar (@GabbbarSingh) October 2, 2023
For the unversed, the Indian law sanctions 50 per cent of reservations for reserved classes such as ST, SC, OBC, NT, and other castes, while the remaining 50 per cent is unreserved, wherein everyone, including general category applicants and those belonging to the reserved classes, can compete based on the merit.
But Vij assumed that just because the law mandates 50 per cent reservations to reserved castes and groups, it meant the remaining 50 per cent is reserved exclusively for upper castes.
Now, such examples of foolishness are why leftwing ‘liberals’ are fast losing credibility among the masses. When they can’t process something as fundamental as basic math, one would be naturally inclined to harbour reservations over their understanding of complex topics such as geopolitical issues, scientific discoveries, and inter-community dynamics.
Social media users troll Shivam Vij
The disdain for Vij and his class of ‘intellectuals’ was visible on X, where users mocked The Print columnist for his inability to comprehend fundamental mathematics.
An X user quoted Shivam’s tweet saying, “Missing brain cells.”
Missing brain cells https://t.co/ORlaPJByjm
— Major Mike Tango (@HurryPuttar) October 2, 2023
“Gazab c**tiya hai bhai tu”, said an X user over Vij’s tweet.
😹😹😹 Gazab chutiya hai bhai tu…
— Brutal Truth (@sarkarstix) October 2, 2023
“Akal jab bhagwan baat rhe the tb sabse peeche khade the kya? Ki mili he nhi paayi? (When God was distributing wisdom, were you standing last in the queue)” asked another user.
Akal jab bhagwan baat rhe the tb sabse peeche khade the kya? Ki mili he nhi paayi?
— AR (@ZSingh07) October 2, 2023
Many others tried to knock sense in him, pointing out that there is a difference between open and reserved seats.
Man these dolts!
— Suketu (@im_suketu) October 2, 2023
15.5% don't have exclusive rights over 50%
The reserved have 2 opportunities over seats
First if they get Open seat, they take that
When they don't get open seat they are given reserved category
So basically the reserved categories compete in 2 pools
There is no quota for 15.5%. It’s unreserved category based on merit which anyone can apply. Bihar is a bankrupt and poorly run state and now want to include Muslims and Christians under caste system to make them avail reservations benefit. This is disastrous for India.
— octopus (@historicwhore) October 2, 2023
But any attempts to bring him to reason appeared futile as Vij doubled down his spectacular buffoonery. He rambled on why the SC had come up with only a 50 per cent reservation figure and not 49.5 or any other. He further claimed that OBC, ST, and SC couldn’t get the seats in the 50 per cent unreserved or general seats, although he did not furnish proof to back his astounding claim.
If there is one reason why India’s education system needs an urgent overhaul, Vij’s tweet attached below provides a compelling case. Vij claimed that SC, ST, and OBC seats are converted into general because suitable candidates cannot be found. He then goes on to claim that raising the quota limit to 75 per cent would result in the implementation of the 50 per cent reservations.
The 50% cap on quotas does not make sense. How and why did the SC come up with 50%? Why not 49.5?
— Shivam Vij (@DilliDurAst) October 2, 2023
Everyone knows that general effectively means upper caste. In fact many SC/ST/OBC seats are converted into general with the excuse that suitable candidate could not be found.… pic.twitter.com/Nya0BRhep2
If 50 per cent of reservations do not yield candidates required to fill the reserved seats, as claimed by Vij, how is 75 per cent of reservations going to be of any help?
Nevertheless, such fallacies in arguments have been a hallmark of Shivam Vij’s brand of journalism, which is replete with frivolous analyses, denial of reality, pathetic understanding of basic concepts, and a perverse desire to back oneself even when called out for intellectual dishonesty. With his refusal to accept his mistakes in this case, Vij demonstrates that he is perhaps among those journalists who try to distort facts to support their preconceived notions rather than allow factual accuracy to inform their inferences.
