The Hindu : Opinion / Letters to the Editor : On discrimination

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 21, 2006

Opinion

Opinion - Letters to the Editor

On discrimination

The article "The return of discrimination" (Open Page, June 18) makes painful reading. It is unfortunate that in the name of opposing reservation, underprivileged students are humiliated in colleges. The anti-reservation protest the country witnessed recently poses very serious questions about our education system. Is education only about making people literate?

Shyam Bohare,
Bhopal

If the instances of humiliation of OBC students mentioned in the article are true, it is clear that there is something pathologically wrong with our student community. It seems to have been manipulated to behave in a deplorable way. Reservation has been mishandled by politicians. They have viewed it purely from a vote bank angle, rather than from a sociological perspective. The electronic media, for their part, could have avoided fishing in troubled waters.

C.P. Srinivasan,
Chennai

The article does not say in which institution the incidents took place. But it is clear that they have taken place over the last one month. It is the Government that is to be squarely blamed for injecting caste feelings in the minds of the young.

Cdr. P. Suresh Babu,
Visakhapatnam, A.P.

The caste factor seems to have assumed disturbing proportions in the wake of the anti-reservation stir. There is no place for humiliation and discrimination in a civilised society. Unfortunately, caste is sacred for politicians, for it is they who perpetually derive benefit out of it.

K.S. Thampi,
Chennai

The Government's proposal to widen reservation seems to have caused a divide among students.

J.N. Mahanty,
Puri, Orissa

Reservation has created a situation in which both categories of students are unhappy. Is it fair to create a situation in which forward caste students of the middle-income group have to do exceptionally well to get into the IIT, but the son or daughter of a District Collector can get admission with lesser marks on the basis of caste? Caste is an anachronism that does not deserve to be preserved.

R. Krishnayya,
Kakinada, A.P.

The article highlights only one aspect of the issue. The inability to get admission despite having high scores not only humiliates but also frustrates the students of the unreserved category. One must experience the agony and trauma of the victims of reservation to appreciate it.

J. Kamala Lakshmi,
Chennai

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