Re: Madrasi - A discriminatory term?
Is it a discriminatory term? How come? We have some colleagues from ‘Chinyot’ and we call them Chinyoti.the kaur queer Arleitter Southie
Labels and stereotypes - The Hindu
Many south Indian students who are a part of Delhi University colleges complain of facing contemptuous comments from their fellow north Indians who discriminate them as madrasis. It becomes a matter of integrity and identity as they are victimized for no fault of theirs. Hence, the innocence of a new and fresh mind is lost, and their minds are framed in circumstances that give rise to a certain kind of dislike for the ‘other’- North Indians. Many students express their sentiments on the ‘Confessions’ pages on Facebook that are slowly gaining momentum nowadays. They complain of being sidelined, treated badly for having a darker complexion, frequently being referred to as a ‘mallu’ or ‘madrasi’, and poking fun at their cuisine that consists of dosa, idli, and sambar that become synonymous with insulting words. So in this act of dismissing their culture, the perpetuators invite a similar dislike from the victims. However, one must not be biased to blame it entirely on the North Indians for their unnatural treatment. This is because there are instances (even though they are comparatively low in number) where students from the north who are studying in Manipal and Vellore have complained of being subjected to similar discrimination. However, Vishnu Verma, a second year student from Manipal University, insists that the institution is free from any kind of discrimination given the population of the students who come from all over the country.
I wouldn’t call “Madrasi” a discriminatory term but it can expose people’s ignorance when they use it for people from all five southern states of India (Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana & Seemandhra).