Question about caste in an MA degree paper sparks row in Tamil Nadu

Netizens slammed the college authorities for setting up a question paper at a university that was named after Dravidian ideologue Periyar, who fought for eradication of caste.

The state higher education department said it would form a committee under a chief officer and hold an enquiry. “Due action would be initiated on behalf of the department against the wrongdoers,” a press release from the department said. Meanwhile, the university said it was planning to set up an enquiry committee.

“When we enquired, the teachers who prepared this question said that it is part of the syllabus. This could have been avoided,” D Gopi, the registrar of the university, told indianexpress.com, adding that the questions were prepared by staff members from another college.

“Based on the orders of the vice-chancellor, a committee would be formed comprising history teaching staff. Departmental action would be initiated against the staff members based on the recommendation of the committee,” Gopi said.

The leader of opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami took to Twitter and asked whether ridiculing the ideology of Periyar and promoting caste inequality among students through questions like these in a semester examination is DMK’s Dravidian model and social justice.