--- On Wed, 7/9/08, Shiva Shankar <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > From: Shiva Shankar <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > http://tehelka.com/story_main39.asp?filename=Ne050708outsiders.asp > > *The Outsiders* > > *A new case of caste discrimination in IIT Delhi highlights > the miserable > plight of Dalit students in India's premier technical > institute, > reports**SHOBHITA NAITHANI * > > *Brave heart *Ravinder Kumar wants to force caste > discrimination into the > public eye Photo: Jake Cornish > > FOR AKSHAY (name changed), his admission in 2002 to the > Indian Institute > of Technology, Delhi, (IIT-D) was an achievement whose > magnitude has less > to do with his being Dalit than with the fact that he has > battled > schizophrenia since his early teens. Diagnosed in 1997, > Akshay has been > through years of therapy, which his doctors at the All > India Institute of > Medical Sciences (AIIMS) have certified to have had 95 > percent success. > His struggle with this complex, mind-debilitating illness, > however, meant > that it took him six years to reach third-year studies at > India's premier > engineering institute. > > This May, Akshay went to his professor of Applied Mechanics > to request an > attendance waiver because he hadn't been keeping well. > A sensitive > response is what one would have expected, particularly from > a person of > the sophisticated calibre IIT professors can be thought to > possess. What > Akshay received, instead, was a reprimand of stunning > crudity. "Every > second beggar on the street is a schizophrenic," he > claims the professor > told him. "IIT has no room for such people. Degree > engineer ko milti hai, > bimaar ko nahin (engineers get degrees, not the > sick)." Then came the > crowning blow: "The only reason you're here is > because of reservations." > The stunned 24-year-old stood speechless. > > But worse was to come. Akshay's name, along with those > of 19 other IIT-D > undergraduates, was struck off the institute's rolls > earlier this month > because his "performance was below the required > minimum level for > continuation". This is the first time the institute > has asked so many > students to leave; 12 of them are Dalits. Akshay, a bank > clerk's son from > Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh, doesn't deny the fact that > he hadn't done well, > but insists that the institute must examine the reasons for > his poor show. > "I sought support but all I got was a dressing-down > for being a Dalit," he > says. "I can't get over that, and I can't > understand why the faculty is > not more supportive." > > Along with AIIMS, IIT-D was at the vanguard of > anti-reservation protests > in 2006, when the human resources development ministry > sought to expand > reservations for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in > State-funded > institutions of higher learning. The anti-quota campaign > reached a nadir > of vulgarity when IIT-D students took to articulating their > protest by > pretending in public places to mend shoes and sweep roads, > implying that > these "low" professions (to which Dalits have > traditionally been confined) > would be the upper-caste IIT aspirant's only career > options were the quota > law to be enforced. Propaganda through SMS and e-mail was a > highlight of > the campaign — these and other inspired ideas were, it > was later found, > the brainchild of a Gurgaon-based public relations firm, > which had offered > to help out. > > Resentment of backward-caste students is apparently endemic > at IIT-D, and > comes not just from peers but the faculty as well. Where > professors are > meant to guide students through the institute's > demanding course work, > many of them actively demoralise those from disadvantaged > backgrounds. > "The IITs were never democratic," avers a former > student, who asked not to > be named. "I don't mean in terms of functioning, > but in their attitude > towards students." > > The 20 students expelled this year were also obliged to > vacate their > hostels without delay. Some left without questioning. One > decided to fight > back. Last December, Ravinder Kumar Ravi achieved passing > marks in a > subject he was later informed he had failed. He approached > the Dean with > the initial mark sheet, but, he says, "the Dean took > no heed and said the > teacher's word was final". He then went to the > teacher concerned (whom he > doesn't wish to name); she subsequently e-mailed the > Dean to explain that > the discrepancy had occurred because she had missed one of > Ravi's > assignments, which had caused his grade to fall from D to > E. "Is it not > perverse that the same teacher who gave me passing marks at > first found > cause to fail me later?" Ravi asks. > > HAVING APPROACHED the offices of Union Human Resources > Development > minister Arjun Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and > Uttar Pradesh > Chief Minister Mayawati but to no avail, Ravi lodged a > complaint with the > National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), which > sought an > explanation from IIT-D director Surendra Prasad. Although > NCSC chairman > Buta Singh has told TEHELKA that Ravi's is a clearly > established case of > discrimination, Prasad denies the charge. "Students > who are aggrieved will > obviously make allegations of discrimination," he > says. "Our teachers > don't even know who is a Dalit student and who is > not." When told that > students contend that faculty members often ask them their > caste, Prasad > said: "You must take their claims with many, many > pinches of salt." > > Ravi, meanwhile, is planning his next move if the > "institute doesn't > accept its mistake": a hunger strike. Following the > termination letters, > he has in fact started a mini movement of sorts. Its aim, > he says, is to > force into the public eye the discrimination that has gone > unobserved at > IIT-D for years. IITians allege that four to five students > are expelled > each year from the institute for poor performance. Of them, > at least three > are from the Scheduled Castes/Tribes (SC/STs). This time, > while the > institute claims that 20 termination letters were > dispatched, students > suspect that there are 28 expulsions of which at least > 18-20 are SC/STs. > After Ravi put up posters in each of the campus hostels, > asking fellow > sufferers to get in touch with him, distressed students > began calling him > right away. "One of them told me it was best for him > to end his life," > Ravi says. > > "In all the institutes of excellence, the question of > merit has turned > into blatant casteism," says Anoop Kumar, the editor > of Insight: Young > Voices, a bimonthly Dalit youth magazine. "The faculty > is already > prejudiced and therefore they treat Dalit students as > substandard. It's > worse for students who are from financially weak > backgrounds and lack > proficiency in English." > > Sunil (name changed), a Dalit who graduated from IIT-D in > 2003, says the > discrimination begins in senior school itself. In his final > years at the > premier Delhi school he attended, Sunil says his classmates > were resentful > of the fact that he, an SC, had a reservation-ensured > fillip to his chance > of an IIT admission. "When you enter IIT, you arrive > with this baggage of > having been branded as second-rate," he observes. The > 27-year-old says he > escaped jibes from his professors because of his urban > background; a Dalit > student from a small town or village, however, has a bad > time of it. > Lacking proficiency in English, these students are thrown > into the same > pool to sink or swim as the rest. With little institutional > assistance, > many of them are unable to cope. "There is immense > pressure at IIT for a > general category student, but for a Dalit, it becomes twice > as tough," > says Sunil, now pursuing an MPhil in sociology from > Jawaharlal Nehru > University. He recalls a day in the first month of his > course when a > chemistry professor found out that one among a group of > students who had > sneaked out of his lecture was an SC. "He went > ballistic," says Sunil. > Addressing a class of 50, the professor reportedly said, > "These worthless > people resort to such antics. They don't deserve being > educated." > > Dalit students were often referred as 'shadda', a > derogatory term derived > from 'Scheduled Caste', leading to a sense of > segregation. According to > Kumar, it is then that students withdraw into a shell and > some even > contemplate suicide. > > The IITs always claimed that they admit students on the > basis of merit. > But Kumar says the concept of merit is bogus and it's > all about > opportunity. "The Dalit predicament is not only about > caste and > reservation. It's about educational reforms. And these > so-called premier > institutes need to value that." > > *From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 5, Issue 26, Dated July 05, > 2008* --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
