Stop linking crooks to whole race
THE strong condemnation by T Markandan (Letters, Sunday Tribune, May 21) of the alleged buying and selling of places at medical schools is commendable.
But I take issue with the line “it’s an ugly blot on the Indian community”. Such stereotyping should be discouraged.
Why should an entire community be tarred with the same brush as the Guptas and the Bhatts?
The Bhatts, Guptas, and their collaborators are responsible for their own actions. And they should face the music on their own when found guilty.
Their criminal activities did not benefit the Indian community. They did these things on their own, for themselves. The consequences, too, are entirely their own.
And this expression the “Indian community” needs to be unpacked. Who falls under this umbrella? There have been attempts to manoeuvre Cape Malays, Zanzibaris, Arabs, Egyptians, Pakistanis, Somalis etc (and their issues) under this Indian banner by some. This can be dangerous.
Shiva Naipaul, the brother of Nobel Laureate VS Naipaul, in his book North of South – an African Journey, points out how during his visit to Kenya he, an Indian from Trinidad, was expected to know about “the situation” in Fiji, in the South Pacific, which was a long way from Trinidad.
He recalled how in a “twinkling of an eye I had been transformed into a spokesperson for my race.” In South Africa we even have people who are not Indian speaking for the race. And in the US some Indians were attacked and killed for supposedly being Iranian or Arab.
The spurious correlation between self and the group and the consequent group judgements should stop. SUGEN PILLAY Verulam