Do you have sense, Mr.Ashis Nandy?

Please stop your non sense!!

"It is a fact that most of the corrupt come from OBCs and Scheduled Castes and now increasingly the Scheduled Tribes," the so-called liberal sociologist Ashis Nandy said participating in a session at the Jaipur Literary Festival.

Ashis Nandy’s statement that most of the corruption comes from OBCs and Scheduled Castes and now increasingly Scheduled Tribes is an atrocious statement which has tarnished the image of every person belonging to those communities, which is entirely wrong and untenable. Nandy’s derogatory and unwarranted remarks against the SC/ST community demeans and de-rates the community as inferior and in full public view is an assault on the dignity of SC/ST community. It is very depressing and distressing to see that the academicians who are supposed to mediate, catalyze and help in bringing social transformation and mobility for SC/STs pass such vilifying remarks with willful malafide intention.     

It is highly deplorable to attribute corruption to a particular community as if it was a characteristic trait of the community. Corruption is an evil which has sadly permeated all sections of society. It is also ill-conceived that people who come up by means other than the so-called merit are prone to corruption. Statements like this are ill-advised and counter-productive. Unfortunately, stereotyping sections of society only serves to further divide the people. When the largest number of senior bureaucrats in the country hails from upper castes or caste Hindus, can he bring out any statistics to support his claim? Does he mean the upper castes are not part of corruption? Nandy, who hails from a religion that openly preaches inequality of people and racial superiority of one section over others, could not digest the downtrodden enjoying their share of positions in bureaucracy. Exploiting the freedom of speech, the so called pseudo-liberal sociologist cannot put forward his personal agenda for cheap publicity. Being a Sociologist, he should have fully understood the impact of making such vulnerable remarks against the entire SC/ST/OBC communities. Understanding the fact that his speech hurt the sentiments of SC/ST/OBCs, he should tender an unconditional public apology.    

My Letter to The Hindu dated 28-01-2013

Mr. Nandy’s statement has tarnished the image of persons belonging to the SCs, the STs and the OBCs. That scholars who are supposed to mediate, catalyse and help bring about transformation should pass such vilifying remarks is unfortunate.

Corruption is an evil which has permeated all sections of society. Stereotyping castes and communities will only serve to divide people further. Most of the senior bureaucrats hail from the upper castes, which proves they are part of corruption.

News Brief in The Hindu dated 27-01-2013

 Arrest Ashis Nandy, say Mayawati and Paswan

The Bahujan Samaj Party and the Lok Jan Shakti Party on Saturday demanded that sociologist Ashis Nandy be arrested and that the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act be invoked against him for his comments against Dalits and backward classes at the Jaipur Literature Festival.

Demanding an “immediate apology” from him, BSP leader Mayawati said, “Ashis Nandy is trying to malign Dalits and OBCs. His statement is far from the truth, condemnable, unfortunate and reflective of a casteist mindset. The Rajasthan government should send him to jail after lodging a case against him under the SC/ST Act and other stringent Sections, otherwise people would be compelled to come out on the streets to protest.”

Mr. Nandy’s comments that “most corrupt people come from the OBCs, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribe communities’’ sparked a major row during a panel discussion, prompting him to clarify that he had been misquoted.

Asking the organisers to bar him from participating in the lit fest, Ms. Mayawati said his comments seemed to emerge from a “well thought-out scheme to defame these sections.”

Mr. Nandy later said what he meant was that most of the people getting caught for corruption were people from these communities as they did not have the means to save themselves unlike people from upper castes.

Asked about her ‘next step’, the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister said she would wait and watch.

Patna Staff Reporter reports:

In Patna, LJP leader Ram Vilas Paswan, in a statement, accused Mr. Nandy of spreading “caste hatred” and said he should be arrested under the National Security Act.

LJP principal general secretary Raghavendra Singh Kushwaha alleged that Mr. Nandy represented the section which had misused its might and intellect to gain dominance over 80 per cent of the country’s resources and that he had made similar baseless remarks in the past also.

Welcome Step

UGC's step to make campuses safer -A welcome Measure

Sexual harassment is rampant throughout the workplace, in all occupations and professions, educational backgrounds, age, and caste groups. Unfortunately, college campuses are no exception. It is a welcome step that the UGC is committed to the principle that no female employee or student should be subject to sexual harassment. The UGC strives to provide workplaces and learning environments that promote equal opportunity and are free from illegal discriminatory practices, particularly sexual harassment.

Sexual harassment can be requests for sexual favors or unwelcome sexual behavior and in some cases can be verbal, physical, or visual. Sexual harassment can have various consequences for both girl students and female staff.  Sexual harassment is a grave issue that many students who have been sexually harassed report a drop in their academic performance, and some students have had to to change their major subject choices, alter career plans or transfer to a different college, drop classes, or leave college altogether to avoid the threatening situation which may impede their academic careers. Consequences of sexual harassment, even at low levels, include impaired psychological well-being resulting in lowered self-esteem, nervousness, irritability and anger. Although the incidence of sexual harassment was so high among female staff and students, surprisingly none of the m made a formal report about the harassment. When subjected to sexual harassment only few academic staff made formal complaints and the most frequently reported reason by them for not making a formal complaint would be ‘being embarrassed’ and ‘not expecting any action to be taken’.

Every University should put up measures to protect women in the working and learning environment, and ensure that the environment is conducive to learning. However, as long as there is no complaint procedure instituted and there is no guarantee of confidentiality, minimum cases of sexual harassment will be reported as the offenders may sometimes be highly respected faculty members. The university has an obligation towards its students and also towards staff, to provide an environment free from sexual harassment, in keeping with rules and regulations of an “equal opportunity” environment at study/work places. Upon receipt of a complaint of sexual harassment, Universities should undertake a fair and thorough investigation with due regard for the rights of both parties. Every reasonable effort should be made to protect the confidentiality of the affected person during the investigation. After investigation, any person who is found to have sexually harassed should be subject to discipline up to termination of employment and, if the person is a student, expulsion from University. Every University should guarantee that credible accusations of inappropriate sexual remarks or actions will be investigated promptly, thoroughly, and fairly. A clear mechanism of complaints and regulatory procedures for both students and staff should be in place. The ability of educational institutions to assure equity for women students has become ever more important as equity in academia has become so critical to workplace equity.