Striving for Social Justice: Such a Long Journey

In response to Radhika Vemula (Rohith Vemula’s mother) and Abeda Salim Tadvi’s (Payal Tadvi’s mother) public interest litigation, and also probably due to rising number of students dying by suicide in institutions of higher learning in particular, the University Grants Commission (UGC) came out with a 16-page document with recommendations to be implemented in places of higher learning in particular. In the UGC document, the idea was to protect other children from such humiliation and negative thoughts of taking their own lives.

During the past few years, such grim and tragic incidents have risen. Based on reports submitted to the Rajya Sabha: “Significant Student Suicides (2018–2023): According to data submitted to the Rajya Sabha, 98 students died by suicide in higher education institutions (including IITs, IIMs, and Central Universities) between 2018 and 2023. Marginalized Communities Impacted: Of the 122 students who died by suicide in central institutions between 2014 and 2021, the majority belonged to SC, ST, OBC, and minority communities. Rise in Complaints: Complaints of caste-based discrimination in universities and colleges have risen by 118.4% over the past five years (2019-2024).”

In the light of this, the UGC regulations 2026 came as a breath of fresh air. But to oppose this, there were protests in many places in North India, mostly from the upper caste and presumably supporters of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’ (BJP) politics. They also took the matter to the Supreme Court, which promptly stayed the UGC directive. As per the SC, such a move will be dividing the society. The court termed these regulations as vague and easy to misuse. We know that misuse of laws can be part of the processes and putting in protective clauses against misuse is very much possible.

The fact is that such cases have gone up by 118% between 2018 to 2023. Sociologist Satish Deshpande argues that having accrued the benefit of the caste system, the upper caste kicked the historical privilege ladder to embrace a casteless identity. Another professor, Ajantha Subramaniam, shows how the ideology of castelessness is a meritocratic defence, especially employed by upper castes in the state of Tamil Nadu, which has a history of subaltern assertions. The Economic Weaker Sections’ (EWS) reservation has taken away the upper caste cloak of meritocracy. 

This is the present position, as BJP has been in the centre of power for the past 12 years. The upper caste do know and expect that this is ‘their’ government and it will do all to dilute affirmative action for the deprived sections of society. During the regime of this dispensation, affirmative action has been undermined by various moves. For example, in places of higher learning, many posts reserved for SC/ST/OBC (Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes) are lying vacant, while the number of eligible teachers is available in the society.

In addition, one also notes that as this government generally protects the upper caste and atrocities against the marginalised sections are on the rise. Their condition has dramatically worsened during the past few decades. Various economic, social and political indices illustrate this downslide.

As per the data of ‘National Coalition for Strengthening SCs and STs’, “The report revealed that atrocities or crimes against Scheduled Castes (SCs) have increased by 1.2% in 2021 with Uttar Pradesh reporting the highest number of cases of atrocities against SCs accounting for 25.82% followed by Rajasthan with 14.7% and Madhya Pradesh with 14.1% during 2021.”

This report details the deep rot within the Indian socio-polity, and its exacerbation by the current Hindutva machinery, ideologically driven with accompanying violence against targeted sections as a key tool for penetration. Dalits are one such target.

The struggle of SC/ST/OBC has been a long one. The first step was to ensure that they are treated equally and get education against resistance from the upper caste. The life and struggle of Jyotirao Phule is an example of how much resistance the upper caste created to this elementary right of human beings.

Babasaheb Ambedkar continued this struggle further, raising the issue of temple entry and right to have access to public drinking water, and against untouchability. Gandhi, the Father of the Nation, devoted years to fight against untouchability. Interestingly, the first attempt on his life took place when his primary struggle was for eradication of untouchability and he was working for uplift of Dalits.

The Indian Constitution brought in clauses against untouchability. It did provide reservations for SC\STs but not OBCs. The implementation of this was half-hearted and many eligible candidates from this group had to miss job opportunities.

As reservations came in; by 1980, a section of the upper caste started articulating their opposition against it. The propaganda was that “non-meritorious” groups of people were blocking the opportunities for the “meritorious” upper castes. These misconceptions were made part of the ‘social common sense’. The hatred against these sections of society led to violence against them, as seen particularly in Ahmedabad and parts of Gujarat in 1980 and then in 1985. An intense violence was orchestrated against these sections and the major issue was reservation.

Groups like ‘Youth for Equality’ came up opposing reservations and spreading elite arguments against the marginalised sections of society. The educational campuses started imbibing this hate against the marginalised and which is now totally manifest in the rising number of suicides in these sections. The argument that there are no such protective clauses for upper castes has no validity, as most of the student suicides are from the SC/ST/OBC groups.

The implementation of Mandal Commission by the then Prime Minister V.P. Singh in 1990 was a bombshell for the upper caste, leading to massive protests against this report. The BJP very shrewdly did not oppose the Mandal Commission. It started a ‘Rath Yatra’ for Ram Temple to distract the attention from Mandal implementation. This shook the country; communal violence started following the route of the Rath Yatra.

Interestingly, whenever the regulations for uplift of SC/ST/OBC take place, BJP uses subtle ways to deflate these measures. The UGC guidelines to prevent suicides amongst ST/ST/OBC students has once again shown the true colours of BJP, and of its parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS. Their opposition to the Constitution reflects over and over again.

The writer is a human rights activist, who taught at IIT Bombay. The views are personal.