By Badre Alam and Sanjay Kumar for Twocircles.net
The tragic death of Rohith Vemula at Hyderabad Central University (HCU) has created a strong public outrage, followed by a wide-range of academic discourse among scholars belonging to different social groups. A section of the progressive scholars have argued that the ‘social paradox’ has now become sharp between radical Ambedkarites and hard core Hindutva forces. And it is interesting to note that for the first time, all progressive sections of society, liberal-Left, radical Dalit student movement, and religious minorities, especially Indian Muslims, have unequivocally opposed Rohith’s untimely death. To put differently, one could rightly argue that Rohith’s episode in fact created ‘Pan-India reaction’ and one cannot deny the fact that this movement have enough ‘potential’ to fight against the threat of Hindutva juggernaut.
As the news about Rohith Vemula Suicide came out in the public domain, BJP leaders and Ministers started making casteist and communal statements rather than expressing genuine concern. However, in contrast to BJP-RSS-ABVP combine views, for the Ambedkarites and the progressive section, Rohith’s ‘social death’ must be considered as an ‘institutional murder’. He was compelled to commit an act like suicide, simply because, being an active member of a radical Dalit student wing like ASAs that time and again strongly condemned and registered protests on several human rights issues such as Yakub Memon’s hanging, Muzaffarnagar riots, AFSPA, death penalty, beef ban etc. which was strongly reacted by communal outfits like ABVP and right wing forces.
Having made these points, in what follows, the arguments will be confined mainly on how Dalits as a group, experience caste-based discriminations in the institutions of higher learning. While doing so, it is important to first provide a strong critique of Hindutva views on ‘Dalit questions’.
Here an attempt has been made to critique RSS-VHP-BJP combine views from the perspective of ‘social justice’ and in light of academic insights provided by the Dalit-Bahujan intellectual’s particularly on lived experiences of Dalits in Public universities. Moreover, here an attempt has been also made to prolematise the ‘liberal intuitionalists’ views vis-a vis Dalit’s lived experiences in realm of higher education. To put it briefly, a prominent section of liberal and secular public intellectuals like Andre Beteille and others have consistently argued that the ‘merits’ and ‘academic excellence’ must be ensured in the public institutions like universities. However, here it is seen that on the pretext of the so-called ‘Merits and Academic performance’, they indirectly end up reinforcing upper caste domination, in the institutions of higher learning.
Finally we argue that in contrast to some scholar’s views, it is empirically wrong to say that Hindutva politics’ has became more accommodative and provides democratic space to articulate ‘Dalit question’ in the public domain. To substantiate the arguments further, Rohith Vemula’s ‘social death’ could be a case in point here. To put briefly, on the basis of earlier studies, here it could be argued that unlike the so-called liberals views, ‘Radical Ambedkarites’ understanding on ‘Dalit questions’ and ‘Social Justice’ must be taken seriously for ‘social emancipation’ of untouchables.
Public institutions and Social Justice
Generally speaking, it is considered the fact that university as Public institution has often been understood as liberal and secular space. However, on the basis of some empirical and scholarly studies conducted by Dalit- Bahujan intellectuals and others, it would not be wrong to say that majority of these public institutions in India generally maintain and more often reinforce upper caste brahmanical values, which often generate tension and sometime result in an uneasy relation with lived experiences of lower castes and Dalits.
Historically speaking, noted social historians have rightly shown that India’s Dalits are one of the most oppressed groups and victims of social injustice since ancient times. And the fact cannot be denied that, the outcastes and the untouchables lived an ‘inhuman life’ and experienced ‘social stigma’ and caste based discriminations in all walks of life. Due to their low status in Hindu ‘social order’, Dalits, as a group deliberately kept outside from the domain of modern and secular education.
However, surprisingly, liberal intellectuals like Andre Beteille and others have observed that although Indian society is deeply hierarchical and divided on the basis of caste and communities; but unlike past universities, Indian universities have accommodated these different castes and communities in post-independent democratic India.
In addition to this, Béteille further observed that ‘academic excellence’ and the so-called ‘merits’ must be insured in the Public universities.
To put differently, most of liberals including Béteille seem to argue that in universities ‘politics of identity’ must not be allowed and ‘merits’ and ‘academic excellence’ need to be underlined seriously.
Institutional Discriminations
To highlight the institutional discrimination, a number of studies have been done by scholars, that have clearly exposed the questions of caste based discriminations and practices of untouchability widely noticed in Indian society.
In this context, a noted scholar, Professor Sukhdev Thorat and others in their recent study have clearly demonstrated that caste discrimination and social prejudice against Dalits are widely seen in the elite institution like AIIMS. As Thorat committee observed that more than 80% of SC/ST student’s face various form of social discrimination either directly or indirectly in AIIMS.
In a more systematic manner, a prominent scholar, Samson K. Ovichega in his book ‘Faces of Discrimination in Higher Education in India’ has rightly shown that caste based discrimination is generally practiced by upper castes in academic sphere. As Ovichega observes, “caste-based discrimination is prevalent within the academic sphere of the university. It considers the hegemonic dominance of high-caste non-Dalit faculty members within the university’s administration, management and classrooms, and the role this might play in ‘othering’ Dalit members of staff.”
Besides eminent scholar views, there are several government reports that clearly indicate growing caste atrocities against Dalits.
According to a survey conducted by National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) and University of Maryland, US, which was subsequently published in outlook magazine in May 2015, found that ‘one in every four Indian, admits of Practicing Untouchability. For instance, in Haryana alone, 21 Dalits were murdered in 2014. And crimes against SCs rose to 47,064 in 2014 from 39,408 in 2013.The rate of crime is the number of crimes reported against SCs per one lakh of their population. In 2014, the rate of crime against Dalits was 23.4 and in 2013 it was 19.57. NCRB statistics show that 2,233 Dalit women were raped in 2014. In a similar vein, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), in their new statistics show those crimes against Dalits, or Scheduled Castes (SCs), rose 19% last year, on top of a 17% increase in 2013.
To sum up the main arguments so far, it could be clearly argued that the claims made by some prominent sociologists like M.N Srinivas and Andre Beteille is far from the truth that caste and practices of untochability are dying. As he elsewhere observed that, caste has been dying in all walks of life barring political sphere.
The relevance of Ambedkar’s words
To conclude here, on the basis of empirical studies done by Dalit-Bahujan intellectuals and Academics, it is not wrong to say that Modi’s tall claims of “Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas”, on which plank Modi was voted to power, now stand clearly exposed. And after going through the painful lived experiences and including looking at institutional plight of India’s Dalits, one could argue that ‘Caste-based discrimination’ have increased and even reflected in the domains of higher education.
It is to be noted that even more emphatically Ambedkar had predicted the menace of Hindutva ideology, long before the independence. In this regards, he writes, “How long shall we continue to live this life of contradictions? How long shall we continue to deny equality in our social and economic life? If we continue to deny it for long, we will do so only by putting our political democracy in peril’’
After 68 years of India’s independence, it must be underlined that what Ambedkar had said during those formative years of nation- building, is still relevant and need be to taken seriously, while conceptualising the goals of social justice for oppressed groups like Dalits.
To understand different tradition of social justice, in the Indian context, another noted Social scientist, Professor Gopal Guru has demonstrated his views in the book ‘Social Justice, the Oxford Companion to Politics in India’, “In the Indian context there are basically two deferent traditions, orthodox and heterodox which offer definite philosophical cues about social justice. The heterodox tradition tried to define social justice thorough radical interrogation of caste system and caste related social hierarchies that sustain the brahminical notion of justice. The heterodox tradition involving theory and practice of social justice from the part of India’s intellectual heritage represented by Phule and Ambedkar.
Finally, the arguments given by Hindutva ideologues and others need to be strongly critiqued from the perspective of ordinary Dalits ‘lived experiences’. Moreover, the arguments of Indian liberals are also unpersuasive with regards to Indian universities and its role in promoting the culture of ‘democratic citizenship’ and social justice vis-a-vis oppressed groups. Therefore, it is high time to search for more radical and egalitarian ‘conception of social justice’ which is widely found in the writings of Dalit-Bahujan intellectuals like Phule, Periyar and Ambedkar. While doing so, here it is suggested that it will help us to democratise the institutions of higher learning and achieve the goals of ‘Social Justice’ for oppressed social groups and therefore prevent further, Social death’ like Rohith in future.
Badre Alam ([email protected]) is Ph.D, Research Scholar at Political Science Department, University of Delhi.
Sanjay Kumar ([email protected]) is Ph.D Research Scholar at Academy International Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia; New Delhi.