It is true that there exists little or no connection between the reel and real life of actors in the film industry. M.N. Nambiar who played negative roles and came across as a cruel villain on-screen was a righteous man who upheld the highest standards of morals and ethics in his real life.
But today, some actors considering themselves to be heroes both on and off-screen, virtue signalling their wokeness by mouthing dialogues in front of a camera or whenever they get hold of a mike, turn out to be hypocrites of the highest order. What they preach and do are in direct contradiction of who they are and what they do in real life.
Suriya is one such fine actor belonging to this league.
The establishment of a committee to examine the impact of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) exam on medical admissions has once again sparked a debate on the matter, as vested interest groups have begun propaganda against NEET under the pretense of safeguarding government school children.
Suriya Sivakumar, took to his social media on Saturday (June 19) calling the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) a threat to government school students. He said that education should be a state government’s responsibility and right. The actor demanded that NEET should be abolished and added that it has been wreaking havoc in the future of students from marginalized communities and government school students.
However, the actor mouthing about ‘social justice’ and questioning the concept of competitive exams needs to be slapped with some truth and facts.
Prior to NEET, government school students in Tamil Nadu found it difficult to enroll in medical colleges. Between 2006 and 2016, only 340 government school students were admitted to government medical colleges. The best year for government schools was 2007 when 62 students were admitted. The worst year was 2013 when just 18 students made it.
Similarly, from 2007 to 2016, 74 students from government schools were admitted to aided/private medical institutions, with annual admissions in the single digits, with the exception of 2014, when 12 students were admitted.
Things changed dramatically in 2020, when the AIADMK government announced a 7.5% reservation in medical seats for government school students. The number of government school students getting a medical seat saw a drastic increase with 405 students getting admitted last year. The idea of this 7.5% internal quota was first mooted by the current BJP National President JP Nadda who advised the Tamil Nadu government when he was Health Minister to give reservation to government school students in the NEET exam.
If actor Suriya was truly worried about government school students entering in medical course, why was he silent for a decade, from 2006 to 2016, when the number of government school students enrolled in medical school was in single digits each year?
The government data also revealed that wealthy students from private schools in Erode-Namakkal region were taking the bulk of medical seats in the past before NEET. These schools that charges in lakhs put children through torture robbing them of their childhood. The majority of the schools in that area are run by the land-owning, affluent Gounder community, that Suriya belongs to.
His deafening silence from 2006 to 2016, while Gounder caste-run schools grabbed up the majority of medical seats, and his sudden outcry when those schools lost their importance after NEET, makes one wonder if his interest is for government school students or for his caste.
However Suriya’s hypocrisy shines through his teeth when one looks at the selection process for students seeking financial help for higher education through Agaram Foundation run by the actor. According to the Agaram Foundation’s website, they have a rigorous scoring system in place to identify ‘deserving’ students. If Suriya can use a filtration method to choose deserving students for the Agaram Foundation, why can’t the government use NEET, which is also a filtration process, to select deserving students for medical school?
It is important to note that, as many as 1,633 students out of 6,692 students from government and aided schools in Tamil Nadu have cleared the NEET 2020. Students and parents have understood the politics played by Dravidian politicians which is evident from the fact that the number of students taking the NEET exam in Tamil Nadu has only been increasing year on year, with 1.17 lakh students taking the exam in 2020.
Actor Suriya, who got into the film industry because of his father Shiva Kumar, seems to be not having much luck with his films oflate. With the exception of Soorarai Potru, all of his recent films have been box office disasters, including Anjaan, Kaapan, Singham 2, Singham 3, NGK, Thaana Sentha Kootam, and others. It makes people wonder whether he’s merely making these statements to stay in the limelight.
So, Mr. Suriya, please spare us your wokeness and focus on your film career which seems to be going downhill. At the same time, it is high time people see through the hypocrisy and the double-standards of these stars who take fashionable positions while being morally bankrupt.
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