Reservation (noun): 1. [mass noun] the action of reserving something: the reservation of positions for non-Americans
2. [count noun] an arrangement whereby something, especially a seat or room, is reserved for a particular person: do you have a reservation?

That’s Oxford dictionary for you. In Indian context, the first means “quota” a broad classification to reserve seats for candidates for everything: from education to job and, as Parliament is now debating, promotion.

The second means reserving a hotel room or train/flight ticket.

Now if you google just the word “reservation”, the top 10 automatic options thrown up are: reservation form, reservation in india, reservation enquiry, reservation in promotion, reservation counter in noida, reservation status, reservation policy in india, reservation against cancellation, reservation online, reservation in india debate.

The second, fourth, seventh and tenth are obviously about the former, while the other five caters to tickets, primary the railways. Let’s not include the fifth one — reservation counter in noida — for it was obviously thrown up since the search was done in Noida.

Indian political parties and their leaders do not, of course, need google to tell them that. They knew it long, long before Sergei Brin and Larry Page founded the search engine in 1998. Reason why the railway ministry is such a sought-after portfolio and quotas such big-ticket emotional issues in Indian politics.

And while the debate is still going on about promotion of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe candidates in government jobs, with BSP supremo Mayawati being its prime votary, her bête noire in Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party, has now called for similar proportionate reservation for Muslims in job promotion through a constitutional amendment.

Raising the issue in Rajya Sabha on Monday (Dec 17), party MP Ram Gopal Yadav said the Rajinder Sachar committee in its report had pointed out that the condition of Muslims was worse than Dalits. So, the SP member concluded, there should a constitutional amendment to provide for quota to Muslims.

"When quota in promotion (for SC/ST) can be given by amending Constitution, why should Muslims not be given reservation in proportion to their population through a constitution amendment bill?" Yadav asked, according to PTI.

A fair question. But also a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, to borrow Churchill’s quip about Russia. A few questions that emerge in such a scenario.

Shouldn’t, in that case, others eligible for job quota also be given a fair shot at promotion?

And if everyone has a quota in promotion, what about promoting those who joined a sarkari job without a quota?

Should there be a quota for the non-quota candidates, too? Or is that self-contradictory?

But then, in that case, isn’t the basic premise — a quota for certain people to get promoted in job — a paradox in itself?

If the fundamental requirement for getting a promotion in job is to do that fundamental job — the job itself — well, how does a quota figure in the argument?

Or is the argument being run on an Orwellian line: that all employees are equal in line of promotion but some are a little more equal than the others?

In the end, if everyone is entitled to a promotion quota, will we have reservation to promote those with reservation?