The IAS Association too has come up in her support and against these prejudices when it wrote on X, “A person’s true worth is known by her actions and achievements, not by the colour of skin. The Association also strongly condemns the attempts to intimidate an upright officer through such petty and uncivilised comments. Let’s all stand against deep-rooted prejudices and celebrate diversity.”

It is a universal psyche that dark (black) skin is somehow inferior to fair skin so much so that even many Indian parents address their children by their colour sometimes in anger and even in adulation for male child. Another bias of male and female. But what Kerala Chief Secretary Sarada Muraleedharan (IAS: 1990: KL) is talking about is something very serious as that impacts the psychological well-being of a child that lasts all through his/her life. A high-ranking officer like her is subject to attack for her dark skin tells how deep-rooted this evil prevails in our society.

But this time round Kerala CS decided to respond. While answering to a nasty post against her, Kerala Chief Secretary wrote on the social media platform Facebook about a colourist remark comparing her leadership to that of her predecessor Dr V Venu (IAS: 1990: KL) — who also happens to be her husband.

Muraleedharan writes, “Heard an interesting comment yesterday on my stewardship as Chief Secretary – that it is as black as my husband’s was white. Hmmm. I need to own my blackness.”

Muraleedharan tore into the deep-seated prejudice against dark skin. She described how her seven-month tenure has been riddled with relentless comparisons to her husband, former Chief Secretary V Venu, but this particular remark cut deeper.

“It was about being labelled black (with that quiet subtext of being a woman), as if that were something to be desperately ashamed of,” she writes. She went on to dismantle the negative connotations often attached to blackness: “Black is as black does. Not just black the colour, but black the ne’er do well, black the malaise, the cold despotism, the heart of darkness. But why should black be vilified?”

She writes, “Black is the all-pervasive truth of the universe. Black is that which can absorb anything, the most powerful pulse of energy known to humankind. It is the colour that works on everyone, the dress code for office, the lustre of evening wear, the essence of kajol, the promise of rain.” 

IAS Association has come up in her support and against these prejudices when it wrote on X, “A person’s true worth is known by her actions and achievements, not by the colour of skin. The Association also strongly condemns the attempts to intimidate an upright officer through such petty and uncivilised comments. Let’s all stand against deep-rooted prejudices and celebrate diversity.”

Prejudice against skin colour is prevalent across the country but there are certain societies where this is more pronounced.