Dalit Student Alleges Caste Abuse at Gujarat Central University; ABVP-Linked Students Blamed

New Delhi: On the intervening night of January 26-27, a mob of at least thirty individuals allegedly assaulted students at the Sabarmati Hostel of the Central University of Gujarat (CUG). One of the students who was attacked, Rajkaran Singh, a Dalit, has alleged he faced physical violence, caste-based slurs, obscene language and sexualised threats from the mob. In his complaint, he alleges that the assailants are affiliated with the ABVP, the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

The student's formal legal complaint, filed with the university administration, demands action under the Bharatiya Nyaya Samhita and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. In the complaint, he emphasises the need to enforce the new University Grants Commission's (UGC) guidelines on equity in higher educational institutions.

Singh is a first-year undergraduate student in the Department of Social Management Studies and resides at the Sabarmati Hostel. On January 28, he sent an email to the Provost, Registrar and Dean of Student Welfare at CUG, saying he had been facing continuous harassment and caste-based insults since the very first day of his admission to the university.

According to him, the incidents of the intervening night of January 26 and 27 were the culmination of this prolonged harassment.

Mob barged into hostel

According to Singh, at around 11:30 pm on January 26, the mob, which included day scholars at CUG, illegally entered Sabarmati Hostel despite a curfew. The mob started assaulting students, including Singh, right away, and it continued until 3 am.

The Wire Hindi attempted to contact the other students but did not receive any responses.

According to Singh, he and several other students tried to de-escalate the situation created by the mob. However, some individuals continued to provoke and intensify the conflict.

His complaint has identified several students and research scholars in the mob, and names them along with the allegations about what the mob did and said.

PhD scholar Munna Kumar is accused of using extremely obscene, derogatory and casteist language. He allegedly told the students, "We will urinate in your mouth."

According to the complaint, Kumar threatened Singh with expulsion and that he would 'ruin his career'.

According to the complaint, third-year students of German Studies engaged in physical violence and hurled vulgar insults towards fellow students. Two students from the Chinese Studies Department are accused of verbal abuse, unlawful assembly and intimidation.

The complaint says that a first-year student from the Chinese Studies program committed physical assault and made casteist abuses. The student allegedly told Singh, "You guys live in the hostel for free; we pay and feed you." He also referred to the complainant as "small" and belonging to a "low caste".

Tappu Maharana, a doctoral student, is accused of continuously inciting the group of students, escalating the dispute and using casteist slurs.

Also read: The Fight for Anti-Caste Policing

The victim has stated that one of the accused, Munna Kumar, was a former ABVP president at the university, and several others were affiliated with the RSS offshoot.

The Wire Hindi contacted Tappu Maharana for a statement regarding these allegations. However, he declined comment.

'Other party roaming free'

The morning after the incident, January 27, the students who were assaulted notified their respective Heads of Departments (HODs). A formal complaint was then lodged, which led to the formation of an internal committee. All parties involved in the incident are said to have recorded their statements before the committee.

However, no definitive action has been taken though three weeks have gone by. The victims say that those complained about have been claiming that they will face no action.

Speaking to The Wire Hindi, Singh said that he decided to share his grievances with the media due to the university administration's indifferent attitude towards dealing with the complaint. He said he reached out to the press through the state's main opposition party, the Congress.

At a press conference with Congress party leaders on February 5, the complainant said, "The University administration is asking to wait for committee's investigation results."

He also said, "It is becoming difficult for Scheduled Caste students to study at the university. The other party is roaming freely and the administration is not taking any action."

He said, "They isolate us and make us feel inferior. What problem do they have with us? We want to know why they are doing this to us."

The victim alleged that the university administration is shielding Kumar and Maharana from action. The student believes it is due to their connection to the ABVP that they are being protected.

The victim stated, "These ABVP members harass students who are not affiliated with any organisation or who do not align with their ideology."

According to him, the incident was sparked by the following events: Someone scattered pamphlets for an event to be held by the Congress party's student outfit, the National Student Union of India (NSUI) on the floor of his hostel.

After this, a group of 30 or 35 people, including Kumar and Maharana, entered the hostel and attacked the students, hurled casteist slurs and abuses. "They accused us of scattering the pamphlets, and ignored us when we objected," the victim said.

He said he was not associated with the NSUI or any other student organisation.

Administration 'negligent' and 'biased'

In his complaint, the student levels serious allegations against the university administration, saying its response was delayed as well as lackadaisical. He alleged that the university did not adhere to UGC-mandated regulations regarding caste-based discrimination and sexual harassment. Nor did it activate the Grievance Redressal Committee mandated for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students or the Equal Opportunity Cell.

The victim stated that based on his complaint, the university administration formed a committee and recorded his statement on January 29. The committee has held three meetings so far, yet no measures have been taken.

Accusing the committee of bias, he told The Wire Hindi, "Complaints of caste-based discrimination have been submitted to the administration numerous times previously, but no action has been taken. PhD scholars Munna Kumar and Tappu Maharana have been implicated in similar incidents before, yet the university administration always shields them."

The victim has also accused committee member and SC-ST Cell Liaison Officer Rajesh Kumar Makwana of being biased. According to him, the committee is pressuring the victims to reach a "compromise".

Singh has accused Proctor Rajesh Makwana and hostel warden Gajendra of colluding with the accused. He asserts, "These two are biased towards the accused. They are in collusion with the accused students and consistently offer them protection."

He said, "These people create arbitrary rules and inform the victims that they were at fault."

The student has demanded that the central government form an independent committee to investigate the matter independently to ensure impartiality.

When questioned about the victim's allegations, Makwaan said this was the first time Kumar and Maharana had been named in a complaint, and that they have investigated the matter impartially. He told The Wire Hindi, "I myself am a member of the SC/ST community and am associated with the SC/ST cell. I conduct unbiased investigations and stand with the students who have been victimised."

Also read: Beyond Statistics, The Link Between Institutional Caste Discrimination and Student Suicides in India

"My investigation has revealed that this was a fight between two factions, and no caste-based remarks or caste-based violence occurred during the incident," he said, referring to the student outfits NSUI and ABVP.

The Wire Hindi attempted to contact hostel warden Gajendra, and sent him questions regarding these allegations, but has not received a response until the time of the publication of this report.

Demand for action under Atrocities Act

The student who has alleged being attacked and abused demands action against the offenders in accordance with the Prevention of Atrocities Act. He demands that all accused students be suspended immediately while the investigation progresses, an FIR be filed, an independent inquiry committee conduct forensic analysis of CCTV footage and written assurance of protection from any form of academic or administrative harassment.

He alleges CCTV cameras were turned off an hour before the violence. The student says he has forwarded this complaint to the Ministry of Education and the Union Education Minister, requesting it be considered a formal record.

CUG's stance

Citing Atanu Bhattacharya, the Acting Vice Chancellor of CUG, the university's Public Relations Officer, Dr Sunil Kumar Sharma, told The Wire Hindi that a fight broke out between students in Sabarmati Hostel on the night of January 26. Following the incident, a meeting of the Proctorial Board was convened, which found that the students had behaved in an indisciplined manner. The matter was then referred to the university's Disciplinary Committee.

According to Sharma, during the investigation, a student alleged caste-based discrimination, following which the matter was referred from the Disciplinary Committee to the SC/ST Cell. He said that the university is a government institution and works under the Union government, and that institutional arrangements like a Proctorial Board, Disciplinary Committee and SC/ST Cell exist, as per the prescribed norms.

Sharma said that according to Professor Makwana, the SC/ST Cell conducted a thorough and impartial investigation recorded statemens of students present at the scene, the complainant and other students from his group.

Sharma said that no student reported caste-based discrimination occurred that night. He added that mobile video and CCTV footage were also examined. Based on the findings, the SC/ST Cell concluded that what happened on the intervening night of January 26 and 27 was a fight between two groups and not a case of caste-based discrimination.

He also said that the other students who filed the complaint, along with Singh, have put it in writing that they faced no caste-based discrimination.

On the allegations that CCTV cameras were turned off, Sharma said, "Students do not have control over CCTV footage. There is a separate security room for this purpose. It is completely false to claim that the CCTVs were turned off. CCTVs are operational 24 hours a day."

He said the hostel CCTV cameras were not turned off that day, and their footage has been reviewed.

Regarding the student's press conference with the Congress party leaders, he said, "Whenever such a complaint is received, a committee convenes as per the rules, everyone's statements are recorded and this process takes time. But this student, without waiting, under someone's influence, held a press conference without informing the university. Isn't this wrong? Isn't this tarnishing the university's image?"

Regarding the lack of action on the previous allegations of caste-based discrimination against Maharana and Kumar, he said, "If someone claims to have been discriminated against, they have to file a complaint according to the established procedure. Until such a complaint is filed, the university cannot accept such allegations. We have not received any such complaint before."

He said that Proctor Makwana conducts impartial investigations into such cases.

Translated by Naushin Rehman. The original report in Hindi can be read on The Wire Hindi.

Note: The UGC's equity guidelines were put on hold by the Supreme Court on January 29, two days after the alleged incidents at CUG.

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