Kerala Chief Secretary Sarada Muraleedharan decries colourism, triggers social debate on skin tone bias in progressive societies

Kerala Chief Secretary sparks debate on entrenched colourism, highlighting bias against dark-skinned women in society.

Kerala Chief Secretary Sarada Muraleedharan has triggered a social debate on “entrenched colourism” in society.

In an evocative and poignant Facebook post, Ms. Muraleedharan spotlighted the inequity of skin tone bias against women in workplaces, domestic circles, hiring practices and professional appraisals.

Ms. Muraleedhran noted she was a victim of the entrenched prejudice against women of dark complexion and implied that being at the apex of the administration was no insulation against the bigotry.

“I 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”, she wrote.

Ms. Muraleedharan said she had deleted the post because the “flurry of responses flustered” her. However, the Chief Secretary said she resurrected the post because the issue warranted discussion. 

Ms. Muraleedharan said that since she took charge in September 2024, she had endured a “relentless parade of comparisons with my predecessor” (her husband and former Chief Secretary V. Venu).

She also noted shades of misogyny in the censorious juxtaposing of the careers of the husband-wife bureaucratic duo.