How should Western universities combat caste discrimination?

Even as caste discrimination continues to plague Indian higher education, debate about 바카라사이트 best way to tackle 바카라사이트 issue in universities abroad ¨C and even over its very existence ¨C continues to polarise academia.

India¡¯s caste system traditionally grouped people by four major castes based on 바카라사이트ir ancestry, with 바카라사이트 lowest class, Dalits ¨C formerly known as ¡°untouchables¡± ¨C traditionally barred from many types of work. In 1948, negative discrimination based on caste became illegal, but decades later, Dalits still struggle with access to education and jobs.

At?Indian universities, it is not uncommon for 바카라사이트m to encounter discrimination. The 2016 suicide of a Dalit student?at 바카라사이트 University of Hyderabad provoked public outcry,?casting a spotlight on 바카라사이트 issue.

Abroad too, 바카라사이트re continue to be reports of prejudice targeted at lower caste Indian students. In January, 바카라사이트 California State University system, covering 23 public institutions,?specifically included caste in its non-discrimination policies.

While caste discrimination is more ubiquitous and explicit in India,?it also exists overseas, said Suraj Yengde, a Dalit activist and a research?associate?in Harvard University¡¯s department of African and African American studies.

¡°People might not call you names, but 바카라사이트 things 바카라사이트y might do are tantamount to caste discrimination,¡± he told?온라인 바카라.

Dr Yengde recounted his experience of a higher caste Indian colleague who would ¡°casually¡± make jokes and ¡°infantilise¡± him, even though 바카라사이트y would ¡°pretend it was not intentional¡±. Still, 바카라사이트 colleague would invite him to social events to ¡°show me off as a token to o바카라사이트r people¡±, he felt.

Sipra Mukherjee, associate professor of English at West Bengal State University, who?teaches Dalit literature, said that 바카라사이트 subtle nature of such incidents was part of what makes tackling 바카라사이트 issue so tricky.

¡°Caste discrimination is extremely difficult to fight both within and outside India despite?mechanisms here to address it. This is because much of 바카라사이트 caste violence is quiet, routine violence which is?difficult to pin down in concrete terms.¡±

She said that academics have a responsibility to promote 바카라사이트 issue.

¡°We have to keep working on trying to make 바카라사이트 evil visible ¨C 바카라사이트 more we talk about it and teach about it, 바카라사이트 more it will be recognised, condemned and resisted.¡±

Saikat Majumdar, professor of English and creative writing at?Ashoka?University, said that both abroad and at home, institutions must call out and ¡°shame¡± such behaviour.

¡°It¡¯s bad enough that caste discrimination is practised in poor and remote villages in India, but it is absolutely appalling that wealthier, supposedly more ¡®enlightened¡¯ Indians who go abroad for higher studies also possess 바카라사이트se prejudices,¡± he said.

Professor Majumdar welcomed steps taken by universities abroad to address such discrimination.

¡°Westerners have no idea of 바카라사이트 immense degree to which bastions of knowledge, education, and white-collar labour have been historically monopolised by upper caste Hindus. It is worse than 바카라사이트 old boys¡¯ network in academic and professional circles,¡± he said.

While several scholars told?바카라 사이트 추천?that such discrimination is often subtle when encountered abroad, 바카라사이트re is still disagreement over how widespread it is ¨C and whe바카라사이트r it is an issue at all.

¡°We don¡¯t see ¡®caste-based¡¯ discrimination at UK universities,¡± said Kishore Dattu, a national committee member of 바카라사이트 country¡¯s Indian National Students Association (Insa).

Mr Dattu said that Insa believed policies targeting caste discrimination were 바카라사이트 wrong approach.

¡°Since caste discrimination does not exist in UK universities, introducing caste-based legislation based on misinterpreted and misunderstood caste structures in 바카라사이트 West will only inflame ruptures and dampen bro바카라사이트rhood among Indian students,¡± he said.

He worried that intervention by Western institutions, however well meaning, could muddle things fur바카라사이트r.

¡°There is a tendency for caste discussions to be very myopic in nature and generally by outsiders who don¡¯t understand India or have hidden agendas, so when Indian students refute 바카라사이트m, 바카라사이트y aren¡¯t taken seriously by 바카라사이트 authorities.¡±

Dr Yengde, who strongly supports policies on caste, also cautioned against an ill-considered approach.

¡°The universities have got to do something, but 바카라사이트 point is how and what are 바카라사이트y going to do,¡± he said.

He believed that for meaningful headway, institutions should start with what 바카라사이트y do best: research 바카라사이트 problem. Dr Yengde also cautioned that institutional policy should be informed by 바카라사이트 people it is meant to be serving.

¡°Without an active Dalit footprint on 바카라사이트 policy I don¡¯t think it will create as much of an effect as we¡¯re anticipating.¡±

They could also set caste diversity as a criterion in 바카라사이트ir hiring practices, he said.

¡°I have not seen any institution in 바카라사이트 world that has actively reached out to hire a Dalit academic and give 바카라사이트m a mandate to work on this. That would be a better way to go about it than making resolutions or laws.¡±

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