[ZESTCaste] Watch the documentar​y 'The Death of Merit' on the suicides of Dalit students in Higher Education

 

One more suicide. Once more the death of merit.

On 16th April, 2011, Linesh Mohan Gawle, a PhD scholar at the prestigious National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi, became one more name in the long list of Dalit and Adivasi students, who have committed suicide in India's premier educational institutions in recent years.

The large number of Dalit and Adivasi students committing suicide clearly indicates the wide-spread prevalence of caste discrimination in the Indian education system, which perceives them as 'non-meritorious', not fit to belong there.      

List of Dalit students committing suicide in last four years in India's premier educational institution  

(List is also displayed at our blog www.thedeathofmeritinindia.wordpress.com)  

When a student from the lowest strata of society fights against all odds to prove her merit and reach the best educational institutions in India, are those institutions proving themselves meritorious enough to recognize her worth, to accommodate, let alone nurture her aspirations?

When a Dalit or Adivasi student becomes an engineer, doctor, business graduate or scientist, it should be a cause of pride for not just the family or the community but for the entire nation. Instead, why do our nation and its educational institutions reward their merit with discrimination, humiliation, violence and death?  

The Documentary  

Last year, on March 3rd, 2010, another Dalit, Balmukund Bharti, final year MBBS student from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi committed suicide. He was from Kundeshwar village from Tikamgarh district of Madhya Pradesh. He was a bright student from a very humble background.

Knowing the history of caste-discrimination in AIIMS our group decided to investigate the matter and went to Balmukund's home to meet his parents on 1st April 2010.

What came out of our interaction with his parents and other family members was a shocking tale of how a young and bright Dalit student from very poor background was victimized so much on caste grounds in one of the premier educational institutions of the country that despite his entire record of struggle all through his life, he finally lost his willingness to even live.

The Documentary 'The Death of Merit' is based on these testimonies and is a result of our amateur efforts to bring out the truth behind the kind of caste oppression suffered by Dalit and Adivasi students in higher education and the resulting suicides of our bright students like Balmukund Bharti. 

Please watch the documentary embedded at our blog www.thedeathofmeritinindia.wordpress.com 

or watch it by clicking at the link here

'The Death of Merit' - Part I: http://youtu.be/2L3y9O1HCBw

'The Death of Merit'- Part II: http://youtu.be/ADXnFf_5JT4

Please watch the documentary and share it widely among your friends and colleagues. We must not allow our educational institutions to become graveyard for Dalit and Adivasi students.

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