India Matters: To Sir, With Love
A decade ago we reported on how discrimination against Dalit students was widespread in schools across the country. Boys and girls queued up on caste lines to drink water - one row was allowed to touch the pot; the other was not. They ate their mid-day meals out of separate plates and were only served leftovers. And very often children were made to sit outside the classroom. Complaints by parents were ignored. Much has changed in the last ten years, but a large number of students who are now entering elite institutions through reservation carry with them painful memories of past humiliation. These resurface when they are described as weak or less bright than general category students - a comparison Dalit and tribal activists believe is unfair.
