Tamil Nadu: ‘Class 6 question paper’ asking whether Dalits are untouchables triggers row

There is, however, no clarity on either the authenticity of the question paper or the school which set up this 'question paper'.

Tamil Nadu politicians raise a furore on Class VI question paper

Many political leaders expressing concern over the inappropriate questions based on caste and religious stereotypes.

A question paper that purportedly appeared in a Class VI examination has created a furore in Tamil Nadu with many political leaders condemning the inappropriate questions based on caste and religious stereotypes.

Although ‘the question paper’ is being widely circulated on social media, it is not clear as to which school in the state had set up these questions. One of the multiple-choice questions in the paper asked what does the word ‘Dalit’ means and listed options included “foreigners, untouchables, upper class and middle class.”

A host of politicians, including DMK leader Stalin, Rajya Sabha MP Vaiko, AMMK General Secretary TTV Dhinakaran, and CPM leader Kanagaraj have raised questions about the exam paper.

“Shocked and appalled to see that a Class 6 Kendriya Vidyalaya exam contains questions that propagate caste discrimination and communal division. Those who are responsible for drafting this Question Paper must be prosecuted under appropriate provisions of law,” Stalin tweeted while tagging HRD Ministry.

Shocked and appalled to see that a Class 6 Kendriya Vidyalaya exam contains questions that propagate caste discrimination and communal division.

Those who are responsible for drafting this Question Paper must be prosecuted under appropriate provisions of law.@HRDMinistry pic.twitter.com/kddu8jdbN7

— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) September 7, 2019

Another question asking “the common stereotypes about Muslims” had options as follows: “Muslims do not send their girls to school; they are pure vegetarians; they do not sleep at all at the time of Roza; and all of them.”

Janardhan Koushik

Janardhan Koushik is Deputy Copy Editor of indianexpress.com. He is a New Media journalist with over five years of reporting experience in the industry. He has a keen interest in politics, sports, films, and other civic issues. Janardhan holds a Bachelor’s degree in Visual Communication from SRM Arts and Science College and a PG Diploma in New Media from Asian College of Journalism, one of the top ranked journalism schools in India. He started his career with India Today group as a sub-editor as part of the sports team in 2016. He has also a wide experience as a script-writer having worked for short-films, pilot films as well as a radio jockey cum show producer while contributing for an online Tamil FM. As a multilingual journalist, he actively tracks the latest development in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry utiling his well-established networks to contribute significantly to breaking news stories. He has also worked as a sports analyst for Star Sports. ... Read More

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