Tamil Nadu gets NHRC notice over kids wearing bands to identify caste

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has served a notice to the Tamil Nadu government after taking suo motu cognizance of a report published in The Indian Express on November 4, about how colourful wrist bands are being used by the schools in the southern districts to identify the caste of students.

“The content of the press report, if true, raises a serious issue of human rights,” observed the commission in a statement, issuing notices to the Principal Secretary in Social Welfare Department and District Collector, Tirunelveli, calling for a factual report within two weeks.

The report stated how students belonging to different castes wear wrist bands of different colours to school — red and yellow for Thevars, blue and yellow for Nadars and saffron for Yadavs. Dalit children belonging to the Pallar community wear wrist bands in green and red while the Arundhathiyars, also Dalits, wear green, black and white.

The NHRC notice also referred to the opening of a special school for Dalits in Tirunelveli in 2013 following caste tension, as reported by The Indian Express.