The Death of Merit is a four-part documentary series. The first three parts were created by the Insight Foundation, a Dalit-Adivasi student group.[1][2] The fourth was posted by Round Table India. The whole series has been edited by Gurinder Azad and team. The documentary series focuses on caste-based discrimination in the Indian higher education system and the suicides of Dalit students in Indian campuses.[3][4] The Wire, states that the "Death of Merit, remains one of the most crucial documentations of forms of discrimination faced by Bahujan students in university spaces."[5]
The videos are available on YouTube.[6]
Synopsis
Each part focuses on a specific student who committed suicide and are based on the testimonies of their parents and family members. These interviewees posit that the suicides were a result of caste-based hostility and harassment Dalit and Adivasi students have had to suffer from the faculties, fellow students, and administration in some of the country's premier educational institutions.[7]
Balmukund Bharti
The first part of the documentary focuses on Dr. Balmukund Bharti, a final year MBBS student from All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, who committed suicide on 3 March 2010.[8] This was published in two parts on 24 April 2011 on the group's blog and documents the testimonies of parents and family members.[9]
Jaspreet Singh
Part two, entitled Dr. Jaspreet Singh: The Death of Merit – Another Documentary, documents the testimonies of parents and family members of Dr. Jaspreet Singh, a final year MBBS student from Government Medical College and Hospital, Chandigarh, who committed suicide on 27 January 2008.[10][11]
Manish Kumar Guddolian
The third in the series is titled The Death of Merit: Manish Kumar (IIT Roorkee)[12] documents testimonies of parents and family members of Manish Kumar Guddolian, a second year student who was graduating from the Department of Computer Science & Information Technology, at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee, who committed suicide by jumping from the fifth floor of his hostel on 6 February 2011.[13] This was released in two parts.
Ajay Sree Chandra
The fourth part in the series, The Death of Merit: Dr. V. Ajay Sree Chandra [A Documentary Film], focuses on Dr. Ajay Sree Chandra. Chandra committed suicide by hanging on 27 August 2007 in one of the hostel rooms in IIScl.[14]
References
- ↑ Help for reserved categories. Hindustan Times(3 June 2010).
- ↑ Dalit suicides in India's top colleges. Christian Today(6 May 2011). Retrieved 2022-05-02.
- ↑ In Dalit student suicides, the death of merit. The Hindu(2011-05-07). Retrieved 2022-05-02.
- ↑ This tragic documentary series tells the stories of Dalit students who were driven to suicide. Scroll.in(18 January 2016).
- ↑ Rohith Vemula's Suicide Triggered a New Political Wave. The Wire (India)(19 January 2018).
- ↑ Memory, Grief, and Agency: A Political Theological Account of Wrongs and Rites{{#if:Boopalan|, Boopalan}. Springer(2017-09-18). ISBN 978-3-319-58958-9
- ↑ In India, Caste Discrimination Still Plagues University Campuses, Neelakantan, Shailaja. The Chronicle of Higher Education(11 December 2011). Retrieved 2022-05-02.
- ↑ AIIMS student kills self in hostel room. The Indian Express.
- ↑ 'The Death of Merit': A Documentary. Round Table India(6 May 2011).
- ↑ GMCH suicide: Charges framed against two. The Times of India(19 August 2010).
- ↑ Dr Jaspreet Singh: The Death of Merit – Another Documentary. Death of Merit(5 May 2011).
- ↑ Documentary: The Death of Merit – Manish Kumar (IIT Roorkee). Dr. B. R. Ambedkar's Caravan(6 July 2011).
- ↑ Student of IIT Roorkee commits suicide. The Times of India(7 February 2011).
- ↑ The Death of Merit – Dr. V. Ajay Sree Chandra, Azad, Gurinder. Round Table India(26 July 2016). Retrieved 2021-01-06.