Are Hindus ‘others’?

GGSIPU admission form raises eyebrows

In an apparent error of omission on the part of authorities, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (GGSIPU) has asked all applicants to mention their religion in the admission form by marking the appropriate option, but failed to provide that of ‘Hindu’ even though all minority faiths are listed specifically.

Those belonging to the Hindu religion are, therefore, left with no choice but to indicate their faith by ticking the ‘Others’ column on the list.

While such a format has sparked widespread confusion and panic among students and applicants, IP University Vice-Chancellor Prof DK Bandyo-padhyay has said by way of clarification that the “column contains minority religions and Hindu falls in the category of ‘Others’”.

“This is nothing unusual as it is known to all that Hindus are the majority. The ‘religion’ column has minorities in it and the Hindu students should fill out the ‘Others’ option given in the religion column of the form,” said Bandyopadhyay.

The V-C added that in the form, SC/ST/OBC and ‘Others’ are separate options. “In the form, we have the options of Minorities, SC/ST/OBC and ‘Others’. Hindus, being the majority, should fill up ‘Others’,” he said. All explanations notwithstanding, students are still perplexed about how to fill the admission forms and some of them are even in a state of panic.

“I filled up the application form but when I got to the religion column, I got confused as ‘Hindu’ was nowhere on the page. I have filled forms of various universities but this is for the first time I have seen something like this,” Aarushi, an applicant, said.

She added she had to reread the admission brochure to confirm there were no printing errors. “I was scared there was a printing error. After going through the brochure, I learnt that the option was simply not mentioned,” she said. IP University was hit by controversy recently when over 1,000 fake admission forms were submitted by applicants

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