By Suraj Yengde for Twocircles.net
Cambridge: Mid-January in the New England area is infamous for the unfriendly cold shivers. Stepping out on a weekend after a cold week in the central quarters of Cambridge area is unlikely. People passing through the Harvard Square witnessed an unusual form of social gathering by south Asians holding placards that read: ‘Down with the Casteism in Indian Universities,’ ‘#CasteMustFall,’ ‘#DalitLivesMatter,’ ‘Stop Caste Based Discrimination’
Ambedkarite groups in Boston under the banner of Ambedkar International Centre gathered in the busy space of Harvard square to protest against the caste bias that denigrates students coming from marginalised caste groups in India. It was an occasion to protest against the University of Hyderabad’s (UoH) arbitrary decision to expel the students overriding the results of the fact finding committee, and to call attention to the existing realities of caste discrimination in Indian society.
#castemustfall pic.twitter.com/MWkiow44Sl
— کاشف الہدیٰ (@kaaashif) January 16, 2016
Protesters geared in three layers and warm hats highlighted the plight of Dalit students in educational institutes in India that repress the dignity of life to Dalit and Tribal students. UoH is a significant event for smartphone-era Indians in the metros to ponder over heinous forms of exclusion and discrimination taking place in the elite institutes. If this is what happens in a globally recognised institute, then it is worrisome to think about educational condition of Dalit students in semi-urban and rural areas.
Dalit students who enter (higher) educational institutes continue to be excluded and ostracized by the student community and teaching faculty to the worst degree. Reported deaths of Dalit students pose questions about responsibilities of institutes. A rebuttal to the Dalit students’ death is framed as a non-talented student who entered the school on a quota based system without having enough credence. Thus owing to the pressure of studies student committed a suicide is unashamedly reiterated across media spaces. Similar syntax is rarely placed among the privileged caste case(s). If discrimination of minority is to be taken as a scalar misrepresentation of democratic university spaces, then the scenario resonates to the educational institutes across United States where African American students feel vulnerable and discriminated. Protests by Yale University students, the University of Missouri students, Princeton, Harvard among the African American student groups continue to occur.
“I’ve been personally witnessing these gruesome incidents since my college days, and in this case the government has intentionally interfered owing to the right-wing pressure,” said co-organiser Venkat Maroju of Ambedkar International Center, Washington DC. Umang Kumar highlighted the synopsis of the student expulsion claiming it to be an internalised form of communalism. The protest gathered momentum among the secular and democratic individuals who foresaw the protest as a significant gesture to demonstrate unity among the Dalit diaspora. Protestors reaffirmed their commitment to be vigilant over caste discrimination.
“This is on-going plight of the Dalit student community, who, at the level of doctoral studies, are conscious enough of their sociality and continue to demand for equal rights. These students who would be awarded doctorate in a few months or years’ time are internationally targeted. The level of plight is inexcusable,” appraised Boston Study Group co-organiser Sanjay Bhagat.
Kashif-ul-Huda, editor, TwoCircle.net, presented the original reason for such an incident to occur. He argued that it was originally in opposition to the Dalit groups expressing solidarity with the aggrieved Muslim community who had been victim of communal violence in India. Hence, after arranging a documentary viewing of ‘Muzaffarnagar Baaqi Hain,’ ABVP activists took an otherwise view. The reason of increased altercation was about Dalit-Muslim solidarity which is rancor for the fringe elements of the right wing Hindu outfits.
Education is the fundamental right enshrined in the Constitution of India and it is an international human rights concern. Banishing students coming from vulnerable sections of societies only dehumanizes the face of so called egalitarian educational spaces. Dalit students studying in Brandies University, North Eastern University and Harvard University too joined the protest expressing serious concerns over such incident that only hampers the development of student groups. Jaspreet Mahal, a Brandies University grad student referred to the offshore unity among Dalit groups as a significant progress among diaspora groups in the US.
In witnessing the gathering of speeches and recital of poems, Harvard Square community took note of the protest by taking videos and photos. As much this protest endeavored to work with the affected Dalit and Tribal groups. It will start coordinating with the civil society groups in Boston and in the New England area declared co-organisers.
We may be few but that’s enough for you.
We may be scattered we are sun’s rays.
We may be invisible that’s our strength
We dare you because we care you.
If you let go with your prejudice
You will have time to recognise us
Ours is a fight for reclaiming human dignity said Baba
We reiterate for us thee children of Baba.
Do not undermine us, we warn you
For the after is your fault.
The beauty about us is we are WE and me.
Our identity is a plural logic.
For our identity is your existence.
We may be few but that’s enough for you.
The author is an associate at Department of African and African American studies at Harvard.He is finishing his PhD from University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.