Caning used to be fair, formal affair: Big B

New Delhi, Jun 19: Amid the raging debate over corporal punishment and caning in schools sparked off by the suicide of class 8 student of Kolkata's La Martiniere School, Rouvanjit Rawla, Bollywood star, Amitabh Bachchan has said that caning was a 'regular feature' at school.

"I must admit that caning was a regular feature during our stay in the school...As students, we did not resist or fight against it. It was part of our curriculum in a sense and I think we were better off with it than without. Indeed, there were occasions when we opted for it as against, when given the choice of an alternative," the Big B wrote on his blog post.

"The whole procedure was to me and I would like to believe for others too, a very fair and formal affair, this business of caning. We knew what the punishment would be if there was infringement, so it wasn't as though you were suddenly caught forcibly and beaten black and blue in front of the entire school," he added.

Even though caning was considered acceptable in his school and his fellow students used to take it in a sporting way, Amitabh Bachchan opined that corporal punishment in schools should he admonished now.

"That was 1956! It is 2010 now. If now, Abhishek or Shweta (his daughter) or Agastya and Navya-Naveli (his grandchildren) were to be even spoken loudly against, it would incense me. Times have changed and so have circumstances. I would strongly oppose corporal punishment in schools now," his blog read.

OneIndia News