Next door to millennium Gurgaon, caste is a violent slap in the face

Next door to millennium Gurgaon, caste is a violent slap in the face
SUMANT BHATTACHARYA

GURGAON, MARCH 3: Over 50 students of the Valmiki community in Kadipur village, situated next to Pace City, Gurgaon, are boycotting their Government Primary School fearing a backlash after a girl student, Nirma Rani, was beaten up last week for wishing her teacher namaste.

The reason being -- Harijan students are not supposed to wish teachers belonging to the upper castes.

When Nirma Rani's father Satveer, who works at Palam Airport, went to enquire about the incident, he was allegedly beaten up by teachers. Satveer is now in a Delhi hospital with three broken ribs.

According to the FIR filed by Nirma Rani's uncle Friday last week, the incident occurred when the girl wished her teacher Shribhagwan Sharma. The teacher slapped her twice, according to the FIR.

A Class VIII student, 15-year-old Nirma Rani told Express Newsline that the Harijan students had been told not to wish their teachers. When Nirma's father Satveer went to the school and asked Sharma about the incident, there was a heated argument following which Satveer says he was taken to a room and beaten up.

Satveer, who is admitted in South Point Hospital in Delhi, said that besides Shribhagwan Sharma, three other teachers Mahipal Sharma, Murarilal and a lady teacher D K Pokhar beat him up. Satveer has named them in the FIR registered in the Sector 10 police station.

Satveer alleges that the police are defending the teachers and instead of taking legal action are pressing for a compromise.

But SSP Gurgaon Kuldeep Singh Sihag says: ``The police are taking action as per the rules. I have not seen the case file and I can comment only after seeing it.''

Rajpal, ASI of Sector 10, said: ``Police will decide its course of action after examining Satveer's X-ray report.''

Bhartiya Valmiki Dharam Samaj district president Veer Shankar Lal Kheralia said teachers address the students not by their names but by their castes, specially those from backward communities. Pooja, a student of Class VIII, verifies this. Her father, Jagpal, is an MCD employee.

Another student, Jyoti said they were made to do menial tasks at school. The teachers ask them to wash tiffins after lunch. And that upper-caste students are spared. However, principal Usha Madan denies these allegations and says there is no discrimination in the school.

Madan alleges that it was Nirma Rani's father who attacked the teacher. This provoked the students to beat up Satveer, she says. But she could not name any student who had beaten Satveer.

The Valmiki community, on its part, held a meeting on March 3 against such discrimination in the school. Kheralia alleges that the district administration is not protecting the affected students, a section of whom allege that ``outsiders'' are being brought to threaten them, a charge that Madan denies.

Nirma Rani's mother Maya Devi is thinking of leaving the village. She says: ``Our children were asked to do menial tasks till now but now it's a matter of life.'' Kheralia says that parents of these children send them to school enduring severe hardship but if such incidents recur, they might drop out.