Kerala Ministers are undoubtedly quite irked by the whole 'Marks Jihad' controversy. Now, Dr R Bindu and V Sivankutty, the state's Higher Education Minister and General Education Minister, have both written letters to the centre, condemning the remarks by the University of Delhi professor Dr Rakesh Kumar Pandey and are seeking action against the academician.
It all began when a few DU colleges announced a 100 per cent cut-off for their courses and reports had said that students who had graduated from Kerala State Board schools with 100 per cent in their Class XII Board examinations secured the most seats. An irked Pandey took to his Facebook page to write, "A college had to admit 26 students in a course having 20 seats only because they all had 100 per cent marks from the Kerala Board. For the last few years, the Kerala Board is implementing #MarksJihad."
"(The statement) is highly defamatory and communal against the students hailing from the state of Kerala. He deliberately attempted to cause a divide among students from outside states who are studying at Delhi University," says Sivankutty, in his letter addressed to the Union Minister of Education, Dharmendra Pradhan. "He even used a new term “Marks Jihad” to spread suspicion among the students. He attempted to draw a comparison between “Marks Jihad” and imaginary “Love Jihad” to cause a communal divide between various religions. His deliberate actions invite various criminal actions as per the provisions of the Indian Penal Code," says Sivankutty, who is also a law graduate.
He has also asked Pradhan to issue a condemnation statement by the Ministry of Education against the professor's remarks. However, despite opposition and multiple protests, the centre is still quiet on the matter.
R Bindu, on the other hand, tweeted, "DU professor's 'marks jihad' remark is a blatant attempt to undermine Kerala's achievements in the field of education and racially segregate our people. Such toxic words do not befit a person of such standing."
Pandey is a professor of Physics at DU's Kirori Mal College. When EdexLive contacted him a few days back, he said that he stands by his statement.
