Two Students Injured In Caste-Related Clash At Tamil Nadu School

Just last year, a Scheduled Caste student and his sister were attacked at their home in Nanguneri by the boy’s schoolmates.

A clash between students from different caste backgrounds at Government Higher Secondary School in Valliyoor, Tamil Nadu, resulted in two students being injured on Tuesday. The conflict arose from derogatory remarks about a specific caste written on a school toilet wall.

According to reports, the altercation involved students from the Backward Classes (BC) and Scheduled Castes (SC) communities. The tension escalated when students from one community found offensive writing targeting their caste during a forenoon break, as reported by The New Indian Express.

The confrontation quickly turned physical, prompting teachers to intervene and halt the fight. The injured students were taken to a private hospital in Valliyoor for medical attention.

Following the incident, Valliyoor police arrived at the scene and detained 15 students for questioning. Subsequently, a case was registered against 22 students, with 11 from each group, who were then sent to the Government Observation Home in Palayamkottai. The students were from Class 11 and 12. 

Nanguneri Assistant Superintendent of Police Prasanna Kumar and Valliyoor Deputy Superintendent of Police Yogesh visited the school to speak with the students and assess the situation.

This incident is part of a troubling trend of caste-related violence in schools. Just last year, a Scheduled Caste student and his sister were attacked at their home in Nanguneri by the boy’s schoolmates. In the current academic year, at least five government schools have reported similar clashes, according to a report on The Hindu.

The recent incident at Valliyoor highlights the ongoing challenges of caste discrimination in educational institutions.

Meanwhile, CPM district secretary K Sriram told Tamil Nadu government to form district, taluk and school-level committees to promote social harmony in schools. Earlier, Justice Chandru found out that eradicting caste in schook classrooms was an uphill task challenging the social justice insisted by the state government.