India, Sept. 25 -- justify;">India is obsessed with its demographic dividend, which it often touts as its biggest future asset. How exactly we are doing justice, or rather injustice, to this dividend became clear once again last week when a young student at IIT-Bombay, perhaps the most pre-eminent engineering institute in this country, died by suicide. The circumstances of his death remain unclear. The institute has backtracked from its premature statement that he was caught cheating in an exam -- it says only an investigation can establish this -- and the student's parents are alleging caste discrimination. The student was a Dalit.

The public debate, barring a few exceptions, is now polarised. One side blames reservations, which alleged...