The suicide of a Hyderabad University student has been blown out of all proportions, thanks to the gang-up of the anti-BJP parties. Though the circumstances which forced Rohith Vemula to take his own life are still not clear, critics have rushed to blame ministers in the Modi Government.
A new twist was sought to be lent to the tragic suicide, with the critics blaming the ruling party for its alleged anti-Dalit attitude. The fact that this was not the first suicide by a Dalit student at the said university is sought to be brushed aside.
The fact that Vemula was in a state of utter desperation after his monthly stipend was withdrawn is also made light of. Though anti-Dalit environment might be a reality in some universities, at least in big metros campuses are free from any overt discrimination against Dalit students. Education is the best anti-dote against social malaises such as untouchability, caste, dowry, etc.
Yes, even in the best of campuses we have seen a divide based more on a student’s background, whether he came from a family of professionals or businessmen/traders. With growing urbanisation and the rise of the new middle classes, the caste divide seems to have gone from the everydayness of life in urban conglomerates.
No longer do middle class housewives insist on the domestic help belonging only to non-Dalit castes. Education, media and western influences have contributed to the breaking of the traditional barriers.
At a time when the highest court in the land is making it imperative for the doors of the most cherished temples to be opened to women and Dalits, and thus chip away at the last vestiges of superstition and tradition, it is highly unlikely that the seats of modern learning like the Hyderabad University would encourage the practice of caste-based segregation.
However, if a form of covert caste divide prevails there is very little that university authorities can do to end it other than use gentle persuasion to educate the young minds about liberal human values. Indeed, students’ bodies such as the Ambedkar Students Association might be actually exacerbating the divide by virtually closing the doors on non-Dalits.
In sharp contrast, whether it is the ABVP, affiliated to the BJP, or the NSUI, affiliated to the Congress Party, or other student bodies associated with various other parties, their doors are open to everyone. Besides, the ASI has espoused causes which go far beyond the realm of education. A students’ union would ideally focus on concerns about the places of learning, what happens there and how things could be improved further. But to wade into highly controversial issues is to invite needless acrimony and dispute.
For instance, the protest march taken out by the ASA members against the hanging of Yakub Memon on the campus of the Hyderabad University campus was bound to prove controversial. Even if the ASA was making a case against capital punishment, it could have chosen a different time to air its opinion. Protesting the implementation of the order of the highest court in the land opened it to the counter-charge of being anti-national.
Given that at a young age restraint in word and action can often prove difficult, if the ABVP leaders found in the ASA protest against Memon’s hanging shades of anti-nationalism the latter cannot be berated for practising anti-Dalitism. It was their way of defending what they believed was national interest and constitutional order. Beating up the ABVP student leader who called the ASA boys goons on social media too was wrong.
But any dispassionate assessment of the events seen along with the suicide note of Vemula would only lead to one conclusion. That financial distress drove him to take the extreme step. He was in debt, having borrowed from an ASA leader. But the circumstances which led him to take his own life were made irrelevant once the politicians of every hue jumped in to exploit his suicide.
This is most unfortunate. But this is the price we pay for the lack of a democratic culture based on values of mutual respect and a regard for the larger national interest. Dividing people for votes in the guise of protesting an unfortunate suicide by a student is what we have been witness to these past few days as a procession of eager-beaver ‘netas’ has made a dash for Hyderabad. Maybe we need to educate our politicians afresh about avoiding divisive, identity politics.
Meanwhile, it is welcome that the suspension orders of four students, all Vemula’s friends, have been withdrawn by the university. Now, they should all go back to their classes and clear the campus of politicians who had swopped down on it for votes.
