ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the character of the anti-reservation agitation in elite medical educational institutions in 2006. This particular mobilisation of medicos took place in the context of the amendment of the Constitution of India, in which a new clause (5) was added to Article 15 to facilitate reservations for socially and educationally backward classes (SEBCs) in educational institutions, and the unanimous enactment in Parliament of the Central Educational Institutions (Reservations in Admissions) Bill, 2006. The agitation was conducted in defiance of the authority of elected legislators, and marked by underlying caste biases. The medicos involved in the movement claimed to be distinguished by anti-political sentiments and found support in sections of the elite in civil society, and even the judiciary.
