The ascendency of India as an economic world power

I always thought that children are very innocent and it is the adults who need to become pure from the sins they commit. I know many of you have the same idea like me. Unfortunately some Indian teachers in the state of Maharashtra do not share this idea. They believe that low-caste Hindus (whether children or adult) or dirty and they need to be made pure. So, these high-caste (Hindu) teachers have found a unique way to make the low-caste students pure- by sprinkling cow urine.

Reuters reported:

Upper-caste headteacher Sharad Kaithade ordered the ritual after taking over from a lower-caste predecessor at a school in a remote village in the western state of Maharashtra earlier this month, the Times of India reported.

He told an upper-caste colleague to spray cow urine in a cleansing ceremony as the students were taking an examination, wetting their faces and their answer sheets, the newspaper said.

"She said you'll study well after getting purified," student Rajat Washnik was quoted as saying by the CNN-IBN news channel. Students said they felt humiliated.

Hinduism reveres the cow, and its dung is used in the countryside as both a disinfectant and as fuel. In 2001, Hindu nationalists promoted cow's urine as a cure for ailments ranging from liver disease to obesity and even cancer.

The newspaper said the two teachers were arrested after angry parents complained to police. They have been released on bail.

India has banned discrimination for caste more than 5 decades ago. However, little has changed as far as discrimination against low-caste people is concerned. The only consolation is that this incident of sprinkling cow urine on the students has got widespread media coverage in both home and abroad. So, it will be difficult for the culprit teachers to get away so easily.