NEW DELHI: The term "Marks Jihad" used against the students and marking system of Kerala State Education Board by a professor of Delhi University has sparked a political controversy across the nation. Senior political leaders such as Congress MP from Thiruvanathapuram Shashi Tharoor and CPM leader John Brittas have demanded strict action and to stop the bias against the Kerala students.
The senior Congress leader in a tweet said: "The use of 'jihad' as a synonym for any trend you don't like is exceeding all limits: Now a DU teacher has got attention by absurdly decrying Marks Jihad. I have always decried the over-reliance on marks as the main criterion for DU admission."
Rakesh Pandery, professor at Kirori Mal College, on Wednesday made a derogatory remarks against the Kerala Board students and updated a Facebook post calling the Kerala Board Marking sytem a "Marks Jihad".
He posted this after a large number of students from Kerala Board took admission with hundred percent marks in colleges like Hindu, SRCC, Miranda, Ramjas, Hansraj on the day one of admission in the first cut-off.
Tharoor in another tweet said: "It's ridiculous. If 'jihad' means a struggle, the Kerala students scoring 100% have struggled against the odds to get to the DU. Interview them first if you wish before letting them in, but don’t demonise their marks! This anti-Kerala bias must end now."
The CPM leader and Rajya Sabha MP condemned the incident and wrote a letter to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan demanding action and punishment against the professor for calling the Kerala students 'Marks Jihad'.
"Highly deplorable, defamatory communal remarks have been made against the students of Kerala state. His comments are suspected as a part of deliberate attempt to cause Divide and suspicion among the students from outside states who are studying in Delhi University. What further aggravates is that his comments of mark jihad and his attempt to draw a comparison with 'jihad'," said Brittas in his letter.