“Please give us poison at the time of admission itself instead of humiliating us like this” 
– Late Rohith Vemula in a letter to Vice Chancellor Appa Rao a month before he took his own life

On February 26, the Chief Justice of India, D Y Chandrachud, addressed the issue of ostracisation and harassment that a student belonging to the Dalit or Adivasi community faces in top institutions of India. He was speaking at the National Academy of Legal Studies. He said that he was disturbed by incidents of students from marginalised communities taking their lives in top institutions, and that there was a pattern in Dalit and Adivasi students dying by suicide that needs to be questioned.

The CJI had further said that the time had come to have a model of education that had empathy at its core rather than excellence. Talking about the suicides of a Dalit student at IIT Bombay, Darshan Solanki, and a tribal student at PG Anaesthesia in Kakatiya Medical College, he had said that these numbers are not just statistics, these are stories that embody centuries old struggles. The first step, he pointed out, is to acknowledge and recognise the problem.

This is neither the first time that a student belonging to the Dalit or Adivasi community has committed suicide due to systematic callousness failures, nor the first time that words of anguish over such an act have been uttered.

Educational institutions, especially institutions of higher learning, have been consistently identified as sites of caste-based discrimination and violence.[1]According to the report by the All India Survey of Higher Education in 2019-2020, students from among the Scheduled Castes (SCs) constitute only 14.7% and those from Scheduled Tribes (STs) 5.6% of all enrolments in higher education.[2] The gross enrolment ratio in higher education for SC students is 23.4% and that for ST students is 18.0%; where the national average in India is 27.1%.

Even though the Indian Constitution contains numerous safeguards and provisions for the protection of people belonging to marginalised communities, Dalits and Adivasis have continued to face discrimination and exclusion within universities and such higher learning institutes. The Constitution of India contains provisions promoting the rights and interests of the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST), in the form of both Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles for State Policies (DPSP). In addition to this, the Indian Penal Code (IPC) contains sections that provide punishments for those who commit crimes against the SC/ST community. Special laws have been passed, such as the Protection of Civil Rights Act of 1955 and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act of 1989 (amended in 2015), both of which prescribe harsher punishments for crimes against Dalits than the IPC. Special courts have been established in major states to expedite the trial of cases registered solely under these Acts. The SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, which was passed by Parliament in December 2015, made several critical changes. New offenses are added to the list. Among them are prohibitions on Dalits using common property resources, entering places of public worship, and entering educational institutions.

While these laws remain largely on paper, the reality is chilling. Dalit students face discrimination from the inception of their academic careers. While discrimination might be more visible at the university level than it is in primary schools, this, however begins these and happens on a daily basis. Students from Dalit communities who strive to enter the competitive educational system are squeezed out by systemic (and often, violent) caste-based discrimination. Daily caste prejudice that they then experience, drives some of the most exploited to commit suicide. Time and again these issues have been brought to the forefront, typically after a young person belonging to the Dalit or Adivasi community loses her or his life.

This struggle against institutional casteism is not new, and the existing constitutional and legal legislations, stated-above, have not been successful in fully protecting either Dalit and Adivasi students. Caste is embedded in the social and cultural construct of our universities. It is not simply just a law-and-order issue. There is a popular and commonly held misconception that universities are caste-neutral. Casteism in fact is structural and rooted however, manifest in how the institute itself, department heads, institution heads, or management conduct themselves and respond. Especially when it comes to the specific othering and discrimination faced by students from these sections Typically, the determinants of caste can be read through language, the “command over English”, submissiveness, articulation, mode of dress, and colour of the complexion. While most students overlook individual bigotry, others are driven to the brink by systemic ridicule. Most non-Dalits regard those belonging to the marginalised communities as sub-humans, and frequently verbally abuse, demean, and ostracise them.

Through this legal resource, we are going to scrutinise the guidelines and safeguards that have been put in place to protect and support the Dalit and Adivasi students, and analyse whether these guidelines have been at all successful in doing so.

History of Caste Discrimination in Higher Institutions: 2007 Thorat Committee Report

In 2007, the then prime-minister Manmohan Singh had set up the Thorat Committee following grave and widespread allegations of differential treatment and discrimination against students belonging to Dalit and Adivasi communities. This decision had come after the Dalit and Adivasi students complained of direct and subtle forms of discrimination that were painstakingly documented by the Committee.

The committee was headed by professor SK Thorat (chairperson), and consisted of Dr. K.M. Shyamprasadand Dr. R.K. Srivastava as members. It was set up with the objective of “enquiring into allegations of differential treatment of SC/ST students in the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMMS).”

In the 77 pages report, it was revealed that 76% of the students were asked about their caste directly or indirectly during evaluations, while 84% of the students claimed that their grades were affected owing to their caste. The report had further provided that students belonging to the marginalised communities were forced to live in isolation in hostel rooms, faced discrimination in the mess (where students ate their food), faced abuse and violence by dominant castes and external examiners that were invited for the viva (oral interviews) of SC/ST students. The report had also provided that SC/ST students experienced discrimination in various forms, from avoidance, contempt, non- cooperation, and discouragement and differential treatment by teachers towards these students.

A deeper analysis of the report can be read here.

Sixteen years have since this report was passed but the situation is only gotten worse. In 2019, while speaking the New India Express, Professor Sukhdeo Thorat had said that “Nearly 25-30 students in top educational institutes have died in the last decade or so but the subsequent governments have failed to take any concrete policy decision to end caste discrimination in educational institutes.”

Initiatives to prevent discrimination in Higher Education by the UGC

• In order to check discrimination and harassment of any section of students and to strengthen the grievance redressal mechanism, the University Grants Commission (Grievance Redressal) Regulations, 2012 has been formulated. These regulations had intended to give effect in letter and spirit to the provisions of the Constitution and other statutory provisions and policies for prevention of discrimination on the grounds of caste and to safeguards the interests of the students belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The regulations also sought to provide for advancement of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students through setting up of Equal Opportunity Cells in each Higher Educational Institution.

• The UGC had also approved the establishment of SC/ST Cells in various Universities with a view to safeguard the interests of SC/ST students.

• In order to make the universities/colleges more responsive to the needs and constraints of the disadvantaged social groups, the UGC is giving financial assistance to all eligible Colleges/Universities to establish Equal Opportunity Centres. The aim and objective of this Scheme is to oversee the effective implementation of policies and programmes for disadvantaged groups, to provide guidance and counselling with respect to academic, financial, social and other matters and to enhance the diversity within the campus.

• Other initiatives included provisions of Anti Discriminatory faculty advisors for SC/ST students who look into their problems and advise accordingly, appointment of Student Counsellors to address personal, academic, psychological and family related problems, providing sports and extra-curricular activities, setting up counselling centres, provision of anxiety helpline, and setting up disciplinary action committee to take urgent action in case of any complaints of reported ragging, discrimination based on caste, creed, religion and gender etc.[3]

As had been provided by the Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ in a written reply in the Lok Sabha in the year 2019, the UGC has issued several instructions from time to time to all State Governments and Centrally Funded Education Institutions to curb discrimination of any kind in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs)/Universities. 

In June 2019, UGC had advised all the Vice-Chancellor of all Universities to constitute a committee to look into the discrimination complaints received from the SC/ST/OBC Students/Teachers and non-teaching staff.[4]

In September 2020, had issued an advisory against caste-based discrimination in higher education institutions. It had asked institutions to look into such cases seriously to avoid discrimination against students from the historically marginalised Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC and ST) on grounds of their backgrounds.[5]

The UGC has issued a notice stating that the officials and faculty members of educational institutions should “desist from any act of discrimination against SC/ST students on grounds of their social origin”.

It had also urged the institutions to create a page on their website for lodging such complaints by SC, ST students and also place a complaint register in the registrar or principal office for the purpose. 

In February 2021, the UGC had asked all the higher educational institutions to ensure that no official and faculty members indulge in any form of caste discrimination against Schedule Caste (SC) and Schedule Tribe (ST) students. The Commission had also directed the institutions to develop a page on their website for lodging complaints of caste discrimination and to ensure prompt action against erring official and faculty members, re-iterating the direction they had issued in the previous year’s advisory note too. [6]

Furthermore, the UGC also sought the constitution of a committee to look into discrimination complaints received from the SC/ST/OBC students and teachers and non-teaching staff. It added that faculty members and officials of colleges/universities must be advised to be more sensitive while dealing with incidents of caste discrimination.

The circular is as follows:

Norms framed by AICTE to prohibit discriminatory incidents in technical institutions:

1. For protection against harassment and discrimination of Scheduled Castes in AICTE Approved Institutions, it is essential for all AICTE approved institutions to Establish Committee for SC/ ST (As per the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, No. 33 of 1989, dated 11.09.1989).

2. As per AICTE norms each (AICTE approved) Institution shall upload the number of complaints and grievances received and action taken on their Web site and update AICTB through the monthly online status report.

3. In case of receipt of any complaint(s) about an Institution, the same shall be processed by Public Grievance Redressal Cell (PGRC) of AICTE established to dispose of the complaint cases.

4. AICTE takes action against such institutions (AICTE Approved) for violation of AICTE norms as mentioned in Chapter VII of the Approval Process Handbook (APH) of year concerned and punishes them as appropriate.[7]

Are these Special Cells in Higher University actually working?

The Case of Indian Institute of Technology

According to Ministry of Education data, the IITs recorded 34 suicides from 2014 to 2021, with 18 from the SC and OBC communities losing their life.^[8] Dalit rights activist Anoop Kumar had stated in the 2011 documentary named ‘Death of Merit’ that a significant portion of those who committed suicide in the IITs between 2007 and 2011 were Dalits. ^[9]

A survey cited in the Economic & Political Weekly investigated how caste influenced students’ perceptions at IIT-Banaras Hindu University. Thirteen percent of students in the SC/ST category reported that their teachers’ attitudes toward them were hostile.^[10]When asked about the perceived academic ability of students in the SC/ST category, 61 percent of the respondents in the general category felt that it was ‘less than others’. In comparison, 46 percent of SC/ST category students also thought it was ‘less than others’. ^[11]

In the year 2020, a panel of IIT directors and some government officials had submitted a report to the Ministry of Education suggesting that IITs should be exempted from reservation in appointments as they are ‘institutes of national importance’.^[12]  They had further said that to preserve the ‘higher merit’ of these institutions, reservation policy shall be barred.  In a subtle way, this report had argued that candidates chosen through the reservation policy are unqualified, and thus may jeopardise the ‘efficiency’ criterion.

According to the testimony given by the Ambedkar Periyar Phule Study Circle (APPSC) of IIT Bombay, it was a long struggle to get the IIT institutes to establish a SC/ST cell in the IITs. A struggle which had begun in September 2014, after Aniket Ambhore, a 22 year old fourth year B. Tech student of IIT Bombay, died from falling from a hostel building on the campus at IIT Bombay.^[13]As per their narrative, it was due to their consistent struggles that a special cell was established in IITs. It took them 7 years to set up the SC/ST Cell on the campus. These SC/ST Students Cell are supposed to addresses academic and non-academic issues and complaints received from students belonging to the SC and ST birth categories, which could be scholarship issues, opportunity issues or any other guidance.

But the struggle had only just officially started. Even though many IITs have counselling and mental health services, they are only designed to meet the needs of Savarna (upper caste) students. Furthermore, these counsellors are not trained to understand the social realities of caste that affect students from SC/ST communities, making them ineffective in providing support and, at times, exacerbating students’ problems. Furthermore, IITs do not hire Dalit Bahujan Adivasi (DBA) mental health experts as counsellors, exacerbating the situation.

In 2022, the APPSC had complained to the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) that the head counsellor at the Student Wellness Centre (SWC) on the Mumbai campus had signed a public petition to end caste-based reservation and posted about it on social media.[14] The students highlighted that this revelation significantly discouraged SC/ST students from visiting the SWC.  

The institute, responding to the NCST’s investigation, had said the counsellor had been warned about avoiding any such posts on social media and immediately asked to take down the post in question. It had added that the counsellor continued to work with the SC/ST Cell of the institute and the SWC. 

Pursuant to the latest case of suicide of the 18-year-old Darshan Solanki at IIT Bombay, prompted by the culture of hegemony and institutionalised caste discrimination, the NCST, one year after the filing of the complaint, took charge and asked the IIT-B as to why it had allowed a counsellor with “casteist sentiment” to continue working with the SC/ST Cell on campus. As the NCST panel continues its investigation into complaints of the institute lacking mental health support for SC/ST students, the institute has been defending charges that it was the alleged failure to create safe spaces for marginalised students led to the suicide on February 12. 

Thus, starting from the lack of care shown by the institutes, to the commissions put in place by the union to oversee the complaints filed against atrocities committed against the tribal communities, there is a certain level of indifference as well as failure to take appropriate steps for safeguarding the interest of the SC-ST community.

Other colleges

A perusal of the National Law University’s website shows that NLUs, considered the top colleges for studying law, do not have SC/ST Cells, but have equal opportunity cells. On surface, these cells have a similar description as the SC/ST cells and have been set up to ensure that every student is granted equal opportunity and are not discriminated against. Many other universities, such as the Delhi University, Punjab University, Mumbai University, etc. had a page on their website showing SC/ST Cells or Equal opportunity cells. The question that arises now is: if these cells are in place, in accordance to the UGC guidelines, then why are the students belonging to the SC/ST community still facing discrimination and humiliation, to the point that they are pushed to take their own lives?

A closer examination on the complaints registered by these cells and the quality of response needs an independent assessment and scrutiny.

Why are these guidelines not working?

The very composition of the SC/ST Cells creates a roadblock, It has been found that in the current structure, the SC/ST cells are being constituted with members belonging to the dominant castes, which decreases both the legitimacy and trust of the DBA students towards this corrective mechanism. As a result of this, people with only a superficial understanding of caste hegemony in education and academia are suddenly given the power to solve such issues that they are themselves responsible for, directly or indirectly, without having received any stringent educational sessions for the same. In fact for most persons from the dominant castes, systemic caste discrimination is barely superficially understood. This ends up creating a void, instead of a safe space for the students. It is essential to ensure that such safe spaces are actually created where one can question the structures rooted in ensuring that Dalit-Bahujan students experiencing a sense of isolation and otherness. It is equally critical to ensure independent and consistent monitoring of their functioning.

Additionally, it is crucial to note that these cells, both SC-ST Cells and Equal Opportunity Cells, are only advisory in nature. Hence, if a person belonging to the marginalised community is facing any type of discrimination, these cells do not have any power to take any punitive action. Furthermore, if the recommendations given by the aforementioned cells are not implemented or abided by, there is no mechanism or procedure to ensure compliance with recommendations. All these lacunae create a dependency of the SCST cell. The anti-ragging committees are again bodies which have largely only dominant caste members; most of the time these are not interested in taking any action over issues concerning students from marginalised communities. A major factor behind the inefficacy of the SC-ST cells is their composition, jurisdiction and lack of power.

Finally, even after having realised the criticality of having mental health counsellors for marginalised communities, SC-ST cells have no mandate to appoint such counselors from within these depressed communities (SC-ST). Only such sensitivity and diversity can help the students –through their time at university – to navigate a semi-hostile environment that privileges the elite.

Conclusion

In the case of BK Pavitra and others vs Union of India and others, Justice Chandrachud has observed that “The Constitution is a transformative document. The realisation of its transformative potential rests ultimately in its ability to breathe life and meaning into its abstract concepts. For, above all, the Constitution was intended by its draftspersons to be a significant instrument of bringing about social change in a caste-based feudal society witnessed by centuries of oppression of and discrimination against the marginalised.”

Whenever cases of suicides by students belonging to the Dalit and Adivasis community have been reported, many judges and top functionaries touch upon the topic of discrimination faced by the marginalised communities in educational institutions. Why then are no concrete changes brought in? In higher institutes, anti-ragging policies are put in place, but the same are just lip-service attempts by the authorities. It is worrisome to see that even after being aware about the caste prejudices that exist in our society and the way casteism works, educational institutes have refused to adopt special safeguards towards ensuring that students from the SC/ST community do not face any bias. It is a question of acknowledgement of deep rooted and structural discrimination by and through caste.

In institutions of higher education, caste-based violence and discrimination continues to be rampant due to the upper-class dominant-caste heteronormative structures in place. Barely a day had passed since the death of Darshan Solanki, even as people were protesting his death, Dharawath Preethi, a tribal student of PG Anaesthesia in Kakatiya Medical College (KMC), Hyderabad died by suicide allegedly due to harassment by a senior student. Previous instances of violence perpetuated by both classmates and teachers has led to instances of violence, which in extreme cases has led to students committing suicide, as was in the cases of RohithVemula, MuthukrishnanJeevantham and PayalTadvi.

All of these institutional murders were a result of the failure of the system to acknowledge the existing societal iniquitous structures. PayalTadvi was constantly humiliated and discriminated against by her peers because of her caste background. The above-mentioned Professor Thorat’s committee report, which had presented the findings of bias on the AIIMS campus much before her, had highlighted that those students had felt discriminated against because of their caste background and had been ostracised by teachers and professors for it. However, instead of acknowledging the report’s findings and implementing the recommendations, the institution dismissed the report. The recommendations have yet to be put into action.

A list of Dalit and Adivasi students that have died by suicide can be read here

The Rohith movement had begun with people demanding legislation to combat the dominant caste’s naturally discriminatory system of hegemony, in which the marginalised sections are regarded as malfunctioning, unworthy of belonging within dominant caste spaces. If India wants to correct this malaise, this poison of systemic discrimination, if we want to prevent more Vemulas and Solankis succumbing to the existing casteist structure, we have to also think outside the n the framework of the system.

Education is frequently referred to as the “magic bullet” for progress. It through acquiring education that the marginalised communities can be empowered, and the gaps between the classes –dominant and marginalized– can be decreased. However, as long as caste-based discrimination exists in educational institutions, this magic bullet will be ineffective. Several structural changes must be made in order for education to fully realise its transformative and liberating potential.

Education institutions must commit to “undoing the idea of merit as a random consequence of individual ability” in order to be inclusive. Staff and faculty must recognise that their social position influences their ability. Students and teachers should be made to acknowledge that centuries old Brahmanical hegemony continues to shape our perception of capability, and that it has more to do with denying communities opportunities for advancement than with individual talent.

Until there is a profound acknowledgement of this structural bias, it is crucial that existing legislations are put into active force and stricter guidelines are given to the universities to abide by for ensuring that no individual is discriminated against. The current mandates fall miserably short. Those commanding both acknowledgement and implementation are from the dominant castes and communities, ill-understanding the experiential realities of a person belonging to a caste minority.

Genuine equity, dignity within a democracy requires a somber understanding of the shadows and silences behind the obvious hurdles. For our young from among the Scheduled Castes and Tribes to feel empowered within institutes of higher learning, it is they and their representatives who must be in charge and control of spaces that make this happen.

The post How long will Dalits and Adivasis students succumb to violent caste discrimination before effective measures are created? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Ghanshyam Das, a Dalit and a former Research Scholar at Jawaharlal Nehru University, died on the JNU campus on Sunday, August 20. He was pursuing his PhD from the Philosophy Department of the University. Das, a Dalit student, was also an UPSC aspirant. Das, according to close associates and friend had begun suffering from netal depression, soon after he couldn’t complete his course. At the start, the researcher stayed at the Students’ Activity Centre; later he had built his own little tent in the campus premises, near the 24/7 Dhaba eatery.

That is Prameet Kajal a student from the School of International Studies on his FB post reacts to Das’s Death:Another student. Kundan Kumar wrote about his interaction with Das on 3 April 2016. Sreelakshmi, a PhD student from the university recalled her interactions with the researcher and said that she first noticed Das staying at the “Hut” near 24/7 Dabha in March 2015. She stated that Das used to seek the help of students to pay for his food. “A month back when a friend and I went to eat at the Dhabha, Ghanshyam asked for some money. We gave it to him and he made us write our names and sign in the Diary he kept,” she said.

JNU officials appear without concern about the incident. No one seemed to take the responsibility for the incident and instead passed the buck to the other departments. Newsclick contacted Prof. Umesh Kadam, the Dean of Students, who is responsible for “the general welfare of Students”, and according to him, the news of Das’s death wasn’t of any concern to his office. It was the Registrars’ responsibility to keep track these incidents. When contacted, the office of the Registrar informed, that he was on official tour abroad. The Public Relations Officer of the University was also contacted by phone, and she too had no idea about the incident. Instead, she asked the reporter to contact the security office. The security officer, on the clause of anonymity, said the police was investigating the case.

Mohit K Pandey, President of the Students Union, speaking to Sabrangindia said that the university was not at all sensitive to the needs of the students, especially the ones who needed institutional help to look after their mental health. Recalling an incident with the Rector, Chintamani Mahapatra, Pandey said: “The university wanted to throw out Ghanshyam Das from the University campus instead of looking for medical help for the former Research Scholar”. Except for a few students, no one from the university was present at the hospital when the post-mortem was being conducted. Pandey said that the post-mortem report concluded that Ghanshyam died from “Lung Infection”. This is the second death of a Dalit student in the university in a span of six months. Mutthukrishnan, an MPhil student had committed suicide in March this year.

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 Muthu joined JNU in October 2016, and attempted to make himself at home in a university known for its vibrant environment of debates, discussion and critical thinking. Ironically, this young man found himself feeling alienated in this space. His inability to converse in English, the lingua-franca of research, left him alone in the midst of endless chatter. His friends in University of Hyderabad remember a vibrant Muthu, known to his friends as Krish, a lover of Rajinikanth movies, food and the company of friends. In Delhi, he appears to have had several acquaintances but few friends. Neither his mentors in Centre for Historical Studies (CHS) in JNU nor his peers in the university knew him well; this was evident in the series of condolence meetings organised in the university since his passing. He found his voice on social media where he spoke of the need to implement provisions meant for students like him, like the Thorat Committee Recommendations. The recommendations, released in 2011, spoke against policies that deprived other students their chances to do well in higher education. These are the restrictive policy of admission based only on viva-voce for MPhil and PhD following the University Gazette Notification in 2016 that students have been resisting ever since; and the lack of mechanisms to address cases of structural discrimination built into the system of higher education, revealed in the wake of Rohith Vemula’s death in 2016. No government, present or past, has made efforts to address the concerns let alone implement policies that concern young minds like that of Rohith and Muthu. Now, the government, following the Delhi High Court order, is bent on restricting the number of students a faculty member can mentor for higher research, further curtailing the scope of students like Rohith and Muthu from reaching the exalted spaces of knowledge and critical thinking in this country.

Meanwhile, the ruling government and its agents are busy defending their actions that repeatedly lead to students dropping out of universities, failing to complete their courses, or committing suicide out of sheer frustration at the innumerable hurdles placed in their path. In response to Muthu’s suicide, Union Minister Pon. Radhakrishnan callously claimed, “…(these incidents) have been happening at many places for the last 60 years… I will not accept (the accusation) that this (death) has happened because of the BJP coming to power.” Another Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has promised to provide adequate compensation for the death of a student and consider jobs for his sisters. The magnanimity of those in power extends only as far as floral tributes, cash money, and opportune photos published for publicity. Muthu, in a Facebook post days before he decided to end his life clearly states, “When equality is denied, everything is denied.” Today, equality and humanity are both being denied to lives like that of Muthu and Rohith when we fail to see the root of the structure that perpetuates this violence.
 

GSCASH Notice dated March 16th 2017

The Delhi Police, in its characteristic style, is busy portraying this death as a case of suicide due to ‘depression’ and ‘personal reasons’. Several well known scholars, intellectuals and commentators are keen to probe the personal life of Muthu, his relationship with his friends, his interests and even his intellect. Besides insinuations of a possible failed affair, rumours spread of an alleged charge of sexual harassment against the deceased Muthu. The salacious details implied in slanderous presumptions around the deceased student was such that the Gender Sensatising Committee Against Sexual Harassment (GSCASH) in JNU issued a statement refuting these claims. Meanwhile, Makarand Paranjape, a professor of JNU, wrote an op-ed insinuating that the lack of rational thinking and intellect leads to such deaths. He says, "One of the problems is that many disadvantaged students are fed on ideological myths, rather than encouraged to develop real competence in their chosen fields of study." In the midst of all this, the Vice Chancellor and drumbeating autocrat of JNU deigns to tweet his regret at the death of a student in the institution that he heads. Meanwhile, the Centre of Historical Studies (CHS) to which Muthu belonged is scrambling to come to terms with this death. Students are shocked and in rage, the teachers are grief-stricken, while Muthu’s father is at a loss to explain what he could have done to save his son.

 
Image: Hindustan Times

In the midst of all this, it becomes our responsibility to revisit the ways in which this can be read and addressed. For this, the Thorat Committee Recommendations help articulate what we have known for generations. The UPA government had constituted a committee headed by Prof Sukhadeo K Thorat to look into allegations of differential treatment of SC/ST students in All India Institute for Medical Sciences (AIIMS), a fully funded institution directly under the Central government. After interviewing students, teachers and staff the committee report says, “Given the relational nature of such experiences it is often difficult to capture the nature of discrimination. The self reported experiences of SC/ST students indicate that discrimination take the form of avoidance, contempt, non-cooperation, and discouragement and differential treatment by teachers towards these students.” The report, an archive of cases of discrimination, goes on to say, “Subjectivity apart, the problem seems to be deep rooted. This relates to the very attitude of the some high caste teachers, if not all, who carry with them the attitude of non-cooperation, and at times of contempt, which result in differential treatment towards SC/ST students. From the self experience of the students it seems clear that SC/ST students live with feeling that the teachers don’t treat them on par with other students, that they are not equally supported by teachers, that they face differential treatment from the teachers, often involving contempt by higher teachers. This created a feeling of insecurity, frustration, psychological problems leading to withdrawal and helplessness. All of this resulted in social isolation and ultimately failure in examinations.” Suggesting pro-active measures to address this discrimination built into the structure of the institution, the committee recommended, “The educational institutions are required to undertake remedial coaching for SC and ST students to improve their language skill and also remedial courses in the basic courses so that they are able to cope up with the regular course.” Recognising that it is difficult to capture caste bias as it is embedded in social relations and behavior, the committee recommended that the institution undertake measures to make the faculty more sensitive towards the problems faced by SC/ST students. The steps suggested to fight caste bias included an increase in objective evaluation and more transparency in practical and viva evaluations.

A year ago, the UGC issued a circular dated March 1st 2016 on “Prevention of Caste based discrimination in Higher Educational Institutions”. This circular regulates that faculty members should desist from discrimination on the basis of caste, provide a mechanism so complaints may be registered on a page on the institutions website, and be sensitive while dealing with such cases of discrimination, especially in the case of ragging where it is clearly stated that “complaints…must be recorded properly and dealt with promptly”.  The question that needs to be raised here is how far are these regulations being followed? When will the Thorat Committee Recommendations be implemented? And, when will we dare to accept that discrimination exists and recognise that we need to call it out before yet another life is snuffed out?

Vidhya is part of the Editorial Collective at the Indian Cultural Forum.

This article was first published on Indian Cultural Forum
 

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It was 2 p.m in the afternoon, and, as usual, I was in the library. That day I was fasting with my brothers Mir and John. I was thinking of participating in a relay hunger strike with our professors at the velivada. Arpita had told me that Radhika amma is coming to support the relay hunger strike of Professors Rathnam and Tathagata. I do not know why, I strongly felt that I should meet Radhika amma that day. For the past six months she has been besieged with all kinds of challenges. Problems with health and the opposition from the government and the party in power. It was the 153rd day and I have been sleeping less and less. I have been disturbed with the memories of our beloved, “special guy” like Sudipto says, Mr. Rohith Vemula Chakravarthy. I try to spend all the time reading and learning to write in English. And sometimes work to implement the decisions of the JAC – UOH.

On June 17. The same date (January) Rohith went to the stars. I stepped out of the HCU main gate and parked my cycle at the bus stop. The site for the relay hunger strike was situated right in front of the substitute main gate. As far as I remember, the gate was never opened. Slowly I walked towards velivada. To the left there was a tiny platform on which the people supporting the hunger strike sat. Professor Ramudu, who had just resigned from an administrative post, was among them. First, I wished all of them with a smile. Then I looked at the unopened main gate, it was surrounded by unwanted plants, and went inside the tent. Along with the relay hunger strike banner, a blue coloured poster was hanging with slogans “Arrest Apparao Podile” and “Revoke Illegal Suspension” and “Apply SC/ST PoA Act” etc. Everybody sat on a jute mat. There was no power for audio facilities, so the organizers managed to take it from Prof. Joby’s Wagon R battery. The cable from the car went above the jute mat.

Radhika amma, mother of Rohith anna, was sitting there, but there was no space next to her. I awaited for five minutes and chatted with Ramji and Raja anna. Ratnam sir and Tathagat sir were engaged in a discussion with some social organization leaders from outside, about the future plan of action. Both the professors were wearing a blue coloured T-shirt, Ambedkar’s face sketched on it in white color, which amma offered them to wear. Ratnam sir was explaining everything in English, and in Telugu for Radhika amma. By that time I found a place near Radhika amma, I sat along with her.

For few minutes I was admiring amma. What if she was my mother. Amma was sitting sideways, with her right hand on the chin. She was keenly listening to Ratnam sir’s speech. She was wearing a saree with a mix of black, light green and white colours, with black dots and a design of white flowers. Her hair had a lot of newly grown white hair. She was wearing red color bangles on her hands. In front of her there was a garland, which they offered for hunger strike participants. It was the fourth day of relay hunger strike after the suspension of two faculties. While looking at her tired tailoring foot, I asked amma, “How is your health amma? Did you come from Guntur?”. She said “yes babu”. Then she asked me “Have you met Rohith?”

I said “Yes amma, I met him one day before his demise.” It was around 8.PM. Rohith was sitting on the cement bench that is now on the left side of the velivada. One of the tent ropes is tied to the corner of that bench. He was looking at his mobile phone. We used to call each other Anna. We both asked each other, “Anna, have you had dinner?” Rohith said, “I will have it later anna”. He was wearing a blue and grey coloured jerkin. After that we spoke about the movement and he said “Our first stage of democratic protest is vellivada, later we will go for hunger strike etc.” I said, “Then I will also join with you anna, and he said “Thank you, anna”. I said goodnight and left.

The next day I was sitting at the shop com and from there I saw the Health Centre ambulance entering into the C hostel road. I thought somebody might have had some serious health problem. Thereafter I have seen two Innova police cars. Then I thought may be there was a clash. But suddenly a mob rushed towards the C hostel road and towards the NRS hostel.  Then our friends thought that somebody might have attempted suicide. Two of my friends went on the bike to check out. They came with the sad news that Rohith killed himself. Then we all went to the NRS hostel, where we saw Rohith’s body on the freezer.

I did not want to hurt her by recalling Rohith’s memories. I remembered myself with Rohith. I met Rohith six times. First time, I met Rohith at the south-campus shop com during a protest rally from the north campus. He was wearing a light gray color shirt, while me and prashanth  was in a black shirt. He was enthusiastically raising slogans. That time I wondered why I never raised slogans. May be the language barrier, I told myself. But I was amazed with his leadership skills.

Second time I met Rohith was near the NRS mess on the way to Dickens room. Rohith was coming from opposite side. “Anna, very soon we are going to organize a GBM, so please do come and bring our friends. And take some responsible post this time,” he told me. I said, “Anna, our people are working hard but why are we not winning?”. I remembered the 2013 Students Union elections. Rohith said, “No anna, this time surely we are going to  win. We will continue our hard work, and our life is always a struggle. People are watching who is really helping the student community.” That was the time the ASA fought for early entrance examination and had debated with the VC to bring out the waiting list candidates for admission. It was exactly three months before the victory of Vincent Benny as the President of the Students Union in 2014.

The third time I met Rohith was at the Masjid Banda roundabout with brother Ramji. Rohith and I smiled at each other. He said, “Anna, tomorrow we have a GBM, so please come. The last time you did not come”. I said, “It is ok anna, you seniors decide, I will accept and agree whatever the decision”. Rohith said, “No, no anna, this time we have changed the approach. Everybody should participate and we will democratically elect our association body, please come”. But there was a rumour I heard from people that many of them and me too,wanted brother Ramji as the ASA president. I simply congratulated brother Ramji and left from there.

After that for quite a long time I did not meet Rohith. I was busy with my course work and semester exams. I was not even aware of their suspension. Meanwhile I met brother Seshu at the SSB canteen while he was having breakfast. I asked seshu anna, “Why are you having breakfast here anna? Is the mess card closed or you got up late?” Then Seshu Anna told me, “Arey, we got suspended, you don’t know?” He told me the names of the other four suspended brothers. After a week, one day before the “Occupy HCU admin”, I was going to the library via shop com. From velivada, Prasanth called me first. Sunkanna and Vijay anna were sitting on the bench nearby. Rohith was sitting inside the vellivada. Munna was standing next to him. Munna gave me a bunch of pamphlets to distribute in the library. First time I had seen the name in black bold letters: “Joint Action Committee For Social Justice”. I told Munna that we don’t need so many for the library. I took some pamphlets and I was not really interested. Suddenly Rohith said, “Anna, we have to struggle wholeheartedly, otherwise we cannot revoke this illegal suspension.” Immediately I took some more pamphlets and on the way I read it and distributed those in the library and the reading room. That was the fourth time I met Rohith.

After a fortnight,  I was coming to my room from the library, around 11.45 pm. On the way to my hostel, I crossed shopcom, and from the road I saw  two guys sleeping inside the velivada. There was no light at the shopcom. But there was a ray of light coming from the ATM that covered the shop com. I went to the velivada and found Seshu anna and Rohith sleeping. Those two were struggling with mosquitoes. Seshu anna was fully covered with bed sheet, while Rohith was not. Rohith slightly moved his body, and slapped the mosquito on his left face and arms. Rohith was trying to find who I am, three time he looked at me and the last time he silently whispered, “goodnight”, and I too wished the same and went away.

The sixth time was also the last time I had met him. At least once everyday I remember this. And I can feel the pain of an innocent mother. Because my mother used to say, “For our community, boys are the wealth. They are going to study and earn and help, not only their family but our community as a whole.”Dear anti-nationals, this country killed the son of an innocent mother. They said “Bharat Mata has lost her son”. But they hurt the mother by questioning her caste and identity. Can she really support their nationalism after this injustice?

Dear anti-nationals, let me tell you, one day this nation’s leader is going to sell all. Just for a selfie and for a standing ovation from the outsiders. Hundreds and hundreds of Dappa Rao’s are going to kill thousands of Rohiths and they are going to say, “He/She was a gifted student”. All the  intellectuals from the marginalised communities will get arrested just for mocking fictional characters. At the same time, all the leading national institutes will be headed by people who cannot even clear the 10th standard exam. These people claim dissenters as anti-nationals and seditious. They are going to kill many Rohiths, like us, just for eating beef, for being rational, for being intellectually productive for the country. But we are the real sons of this land and after we are all killed, there will be no nation.

What are you waiting for to support an innocent mother?

Let us all, students from all over the world, become Radhika amma’s Rohith by supporting this anti-caste movement. Let us fight together to help the helpless mother. The mother of this universe.

PC: JAC-UOH, Arpita, Munna.

This article was first published on India Resists

The post Rajini’s blog that he wrote after meeting Radhika Vemula: “a universal mother without a nation” appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The 27-year-old Rajini Krish reportedly committed suicide due to depression. He was a student of MPhil in JNU.

Police found his body hanging from the ceiling fan when cops arrived in Munirka in south Delhi.

In his last Facebook post, Krish wrote, “When equality is denied everything is denied. By saying Prof Sukhdeo thorat looking for the questions in the conference organized by UDSF in the SSS -1 Auditorium, behind Prof. Throat the white colour projector screen recalled Jeeva’s son memories about screen. From the 70mm new screen Jeeva’s son watching the Tamil Movie “Pithamagan”. After the movie ,the lights areon, screen became white, it was first day first show “Pithamagan”. Basically Jeeva’s son came to buy Maana in the Kitchippalyam , after the Dry fish flyover Maana market.”

No suicide note has been found till now, police said.

Till now no evidence has been found that the extreme step was taken by the student owing to any issues at the university, said a senior police officer.

He is said to have been depressed for sometime over some personal issues, he added.

A PCR call was received at 5.05 PM today that a person had locked himself in a room at a house in Munirka Vihar, said a senior police officer.

On reaching the spot, police forced open the door as a portion of the latch was uprooted from inside, he said. A young man was found hanging from the ceiling fan.

The crime team was called at the spot and the scene was inspected and photographed.

“He had come to his friends’ house this afternoon to have food. He said he wanted to sleep and went to a room and locked himself inside. “Later his friends called him out and on getting no response, they called the police,” he was quoted by PTI.
 
Here’s the full text of his Facebook post.

“When equality is denied everything is denied. By saying Prof Sukhdeo thorat looking for the questions in the conference organized by UDSF in the SSS -1 Auditorium, behind Prof. Throat the white colour projector screen recalled Jeeva’s son memories about screen. From the 70mm new screen Jeeva’s son watching the Tamil Movie “Pithamagan”. After the movie ,the lights areon, screen became white, it was first day first show “Pithamagan”. Basically Jeeva’s son came to buy Maana in the Kitchippalyam , after the Dry fish flyover Maana market.

After packing Maana in the Black colour plastic bag Jeeva’s son Walks through Old bus stand road, then he hooks the right, right side Oreiental Shakthi theatre, after a while he reached Laxmi Ice cream shop. From the shop everyone looking at the black carry bag. It is very obvious that the big black colour carry bag is for only parcelling Maana those days. Suddenly people turns the faces. With that 5kg Maana parcel, Jeeva’s son reached Salem Old bus stand clock house, then he was waiting for Satthiram, Lee bazaar route buses, Suddenly one of his school friend Ramana came near to him, Ramana supposed to get down in the 4 Roads bus stop.

Jeeva’s son thought, he can talk to Ramana till 4 Roads, but when the moment Ramana seen the Black carry bag, he started to look for some other bus, he did not even give face to him. Jeeva’s son entered inside the 6 A sathiram route bus.

Middle of the bus right side window seat, Jeeva son watching the road side shops. Salem Collector Office, opposite situated the Salem Government Hospital bus stop. An officer entered inside the bus after looking at the Black Maana cover, the officer did not sit with Jeeva’s son though there was a place and no other vacancy in the bus. After the Government Hospital, the bus claimed the flyover, after the flyover, Klapana Theatre bus stop, which is opposite to the Salem Anna Park. From the Park a couple came into the bus, they were searching for seat to sit with their 3 year old kid. Jeeva’s son want to stand from 4 Roads to Sathiram Bus stop since there is nobody to talk with him, so for them he woke up and gave place, but both of them did not sit after seeing the Black carry bag, now the Maana smell broadcasted throughout the bus, nobody sat on the seat till 4 Roads.

After 4 Roads Jeeva’s son foot boarded with other passenger’s From 4 Roads to Thammannnan Chetty road, other passenger’s angry on him just for the Maana bag, now the smell is very clear, some crushed him on the foot. Jeeva’s son walked through the Sathiram to Lee bazar road. Jeeva’s son intent to walk right side, to see the people’s reaction. Many people turned aside, and crossed opposite side, after seeing the Maana carry bag. In those days there was no equality for Maana, but nowadays there is no maana , that is to say there is no equality.

There is no Equality in M.phil/phd Admission, there is no equalitiy in Viva – voce, there is only denial of equality, denying prof. Sukhadeo thorat recommendation, denying Students protest places in Ad – block, denying the education of the Marginal’s. When Equality is denied everything is denied.”

Courtesy: Janta Ka Reporter
 

The post A year after Rohit Vemula’s death, another Dalit PhD student commits suicide in JNU appeared first on SabrangIndia.