"I appeal to my SC/ST/OBC brothers and sisters to end the controversy," Prof Kancha Ilaiah

Dalit scholar Kancha Ilaiah offered his support to Ashis Nandy after the political psychologist made a controversial statement at the Jaipur Literature festival.
He had made a bad statement with good intentions, Ilaiah said.


Mr Ashis Nandy is not against reservation, he declared. "He's always supported reservation," he added.

"I appeal to my SC/ST/OBC brothers and sisters to end the controversy," he said.

The Jaipur Literature Festival on Sunday witnessed fireworks after political critic Ashis Nandy made a controversial comment on corruption and people belonging to OBC, SC and ST communities which drew a strong response from the audience. At a panel discussion at the Festival, Nandy said, "Most corrupt people come from OBC, SC and ST communities".
Nandy had later issued a clarification saying he was trying to make the point that corruption among Dalits was noticeable, while that of the rich was not.

Speaking in Nandy' defence, Ilaiah said that his statement was unfortunately worded and blamed the upper caste for doing more corruption.

"How do we interpret is the issue. In my opinion, he missed out saying that upper castes have always been corrupt. They build a corrupt society and dalits are entering only now," Ilaiah told reporters.
The writer praised Mayawati, saying "she is a living icon of dalits. I never met her but have respect for the courageous leader."
Ilaiah, who heads a research centre at Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad, is author of Why I am Not a Hindu and God as Political Philosopher: Buddha's Challenge to Brahminism.
Ilaiah in a session at the literature festival also launched his first work of fiction, Untouchable God



Published: Monday, Jan 28, 2013, 12:56 IST | Updated: Monday, Jan 28, 2013, 17:37 IST
Place: Jaipur | Agency: DNA