Happened to come across many comments from well-meaning folks about how "how leftists are silent about Devika's suicide", "how they only do PR for Kerala govt" and "how the govt is apathetic towards marginalised".
Let me address them, with all due respect to the commentators.
Let me address them, with all due respect to the commentators.
A leftist must not be a mouthpiece for any parliamentary party, he must be committed to the ideology and not fall prey to partisan politics. There is no two ways about this.
But a leftist must also not indulge in superficial outrage without meticulously analysing the details.
But a leftist must also not indulge in superficial outrage without meticulously analysing the details.
When Kerala govt decided to digitalise school learning, it recognised digital divide as an immediate concern and planned to address it, like any leftist party in power would. It made arrangements to ensure that right to education won't be denied to students who are marginalised.
The arrangements include elected representatives visiting the houses in their wards to ascertain the scope of exclusion, schools making a list of such students and teachers reaching out to them personally. Community study centres were setup for the benefit of these students.
A letter written by the Education Minister to the MLAs, dated 16th May, to address the issue of exclusion is out in the public domain. So is the document prepared by Devika's school listing all the students who didn't have access to technology and required help. 
But could all this planning prevent a kid from taking her life? No, it could not, prima facie.
For a leftist, the priority must be to enquire what could've been done which wasn't done and what could be done going forward so that such unfortunate events will not be repeated.
For a leftist, the priority must be to enquire what could've been done which wasn't done and what could be done going forward so that such unfortunate events will not be repeated.
In Devika's case, her father reportedly tried to convince her that the school will make arrangements for her classes. Her teacher reportedly spoke to her twice about the situation. But it seems that those efforts didn't cut it and the kid wasn't convinced.
If you look the facts available, the key lesson seems to be about how the perception of those who are at disadvantage matters more than the thought-through plans the govt devise to bridge the divide.
If they are not confident enough, the danger remains.
If they are not confident enough, the danger remains.
Could a better strategy to reach out to these kids, and instil confidence in them have saved a life? Maybe.
Was there anything else that could have been done? I'm not sure, but let's think it through, and come up with ideas.
Was there anything else that could have been done? I'm not sure, but let's think it through, and come up with ideas.
The takes which don't want to indulge in this analysis, but want to outrage about how Mallu leftists are slaves to their leftist party, when most of them are not, and about how state is turning a blind eye towards DBA communities, when it isn't, aren't really helping anyone.
Some have called this online learning a "policy for privileged" which is not fair either. The truth is that the privileged kids are already being tutored during the lockdown by parents and professionals. The underprivileged actually stands to gain from an initiative like this.
Many comments have even invoked Rohit Vemula and other instances of institutional murders to compare with Devika's suicide. Not only does it fall wide of the mark in this case, but also comes across as disrespectful to the victims of vicious and concocted acts of discrimination.
Let's not shout from the margins instead of getting into the details. After the analysis, if you conclude that this problem is unsolvable and unless it's solved, the state must not digitalise school learning, that's fair.
But let's not obscure the reality, it just doesn't help.
But let's not obscure the reality, it just doesn't help.
Additional note:
A few have suggested that the classes shouldn't have started off before all the necessary arrangements were put in place.
But this was indeed the plan. What started on Monday was a trial run and the real classes were supposed to start only on June 8th.
A few have suggested that the classes shouldn't have started off before all the necessary arrangements were put in place.
But this was indeed the plan. What started on Monday was a trial run and the real classes were supposed to start only on June 8th.
The government's plan was indeed to make all the arrangements before the actual classes started, and in the meantime they planned a week-long trial run to see everything is in place. Post this unfortunate event, the govt has now decided to extend the trial run by another week.
