Rohith Vemula’s suicide in the University of Hyderabad brings into the open the deep-seated caste biases and discrimination against Dalit students, especially in institutions of higher education in the country.
The suicide of Rohith Vemula, a PHD scholar in the university of Hyderabad, is not an isolated incident but the culmination of the systemic failure to address the specific needs of first-generation students, who often come from crippling rural poverty but with a steely resolve to break free from the caste prejudices that blighted their childhoods. Rohith Vemula’s is a classic case. He wanted to be a science writer “like carl sagan”, as he says in his January 17 suicide note, his “first of a final letter”.
Rohith’s death marked the ninth suicide in a decade in the university, according to people in the institution, one of India’s renowned centres of higher learning. Six of them were Dalits, one was an Adivasi, one belonged to a Backward Caste and one to an upper caste. Five of the Dalit deaths were linked to discrepancies in coursework,
A candlelight rally by students in Hyderabad on the eve of Rohith’s birthday on January 30. (Left) At the memorial to Rohith Vemula at the University of Hyderabad.lapses by the administration on issues ranging from allotting a PhD guide on time to constant undergrading, and squeezing of grants. In Rohith’s case the suicide was because of extreme punitive measures. The personal circumstances of these students were difficult enough. The university has a responsibility to be sensitive to such students’ needs in order to achieve its own higher-education goals, which reflect the ideals of inclusive growth.
この記事は FRONTLINE の February 19, 2016 版に掲載されています。
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この記事は FRONTLINE の February 19, 2016 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
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