Caste Slur: Ashis Nandy faces cops; will he come out clean?

Jaipur, Jan 29: Problems of sociologist

is far from over. Media reports say

will question Nandy over his controversial remark on Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) at the Jaipur Literature Festival, JLF, on Saturday, Jan 26.

During a session at the JLF in Jaipur, Nandy said, "most of the corrupt come from OBCs and Scheduled Castes and now increasingly the Scheduled Tribes".

An FIR was lodged against him under Section 506 IPC (Criminal Intimidation) and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The police said that Prof Nandy had been summoned for questioning and the festival organisers told not to leave Jaipur.

The organisers have also handed over to the police a video and a transcript of Prof Nandy's remarks during a panel discussion at the festival on Saturday.

He later clarified his comments.

"I have been misquoted. What I meant was that most of the people getting caught for corruption are people from OBC, SC and ST communities, as they don't have the means to save themselves unlike people from upper castes," he is quoted as saying by The Hindu newspaper.

Nandy has received mixed reactions from SC, ST and OBC communities for his remarks.

An angry National Commission for Scheduled Castes Chairman PL Punia said that Nandy had committed a crime and should be arrested. Lok Sabha Speaker and Dalit leader Meira Kumar too said that the caste system was worse than slavery because slaves can at least be free, while there is no freedom from the caste system.

However, prominent Dalit activist Kancha Ilaiyah has expressed moderate opinion. He said that even though Professor Nandy's comment was bad, his intentions were good.

OneIndia News