November 30 2022
Lately, an incident at Manipal University has been taking the Internet by storm. During an ongoing lecture, a professor called a student ‘Kasab’, a reference to the convict in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks because apparently “his name sounded similar”.
“How can you pass such derogatory statements?” the student asks in the (now viral) video. After the student called him out, the professor tried to dismiss this derogatory remark as a joke,.
The professor apologized much later, and Manipal Institute issued a statement on their social media handles saying they had suspended the concerned faculty. But is it enough?
The student further added: “Sorry alone will not help, sir. It doesn’t change how you think. It doesn’t change how you portray yourself here.” This has stayed with me and as a college student myself, it hurts to see that no other student stood up for him.
Campuses are supposed to be safe spaces for students irrespective of their religion, caste, gender etc. Normalizing such derogatory remarks by a teacher (or anyone else) in an educational institution is NOT okay!
The hate-mongering really needs to stop. We need to call out so-called jokes cracked in our own circles and WhatsApp groups. We also need to stand up for others when they are taking a stand for themselves, be in a classroom setting or elsewhere.