Shahabuddin's Letter to The Pioneer, 12 June, 2000 Shri Chandrabhan Prasad's surmise that the Dwija attitude towards Dalits is changing because the former need the latter even more now, is some what superficial and the expectation of Dwija-Dalit alliance is a bit premature.

For one thing, the recent Constitutional amendment of exceeding the 50% limit in public recruitment applies only to the filling of the backlog. But for the first time it gives Constitutional recognition to an obiter dictum of the Supreme Court.

Secondly, to deal with either the Congress or the BJP on terms of equality, the Dalits need their own party or parties. So do the Shudras and the religious minorities. But perhaps one should not write off the possibility of the Shudras, the Dalits and the Minorities forming a united front which would prevent permanent dominance by any one and assure equitable participation to all. This is what the Dwijas fear most - the coming together of all the deprived sections. Perhaps the forward Shudras may join the other camp but surely 60% of the Shudras who are better off than the Dalits and the Minorities will not. These can yet come together and rebuff both the Dwija- dominated parties.