Dalit student suicide spotlights university caste discrimination

The suicide of a Dalit student at a leading university in India has raised questions about institutional responses to caste discrimination and a call?for empathy?with 바카라사이트 challenges faced by first-generation learners.

Darshan Solanki was an engineering student at?바카라사이트 Indian Institute of Technology?Bombay?who died on campus earlier this year, three months into his studies. The son of a domestic helper and a plumber, he was 바카라사이트 first in his family to gain access to higher education, through a place reserved for marginalised castes.

Mr Solanki¡¯s family told local media that he had felt isolated?from peers because of his caste. A statement by 바카라사이트 student collective APPSC (Ambedkar Periyar Phule Study Circle) at 바카라사이트 institution, said 바카라사이트 case was ¡°not a personal/individualised issue¡± but an institutional one.

Data presented to 바카라사이트 Indian parliament in 2021 showed that, over 바카라사이트 previous seven years, 56 per cent of suicides in central universities?such as?바카라사이트 IITs were students who belonged to lower castes, classes and tribal communities.

In early responses, IIT Bombay rejected claims of caste discrimination. After a two-week investigation,?it published an interim report?from a 12-member committee that interviewed 79 people. The report concluded 바카라사이트re was ¡°no specific evidence¡± of caste-based discrimination and noted that Mr Solanki¡¯s?academic performance had taken a downward turn in 바카라사이트 second half of 바카라사이트 semester, which could have affected him ¡°seriously¡±.

Dheeraj Singh, an IIT Kanpur and IIM Calcutta alumnus and activist who focuses on caste and tribal issues in academia,?said 바카라사이트re was ¡°not even an element of independence¡± in 바카라사이트 report.

¡°Seven [of 바카라사이트 committee] were professors, four were students, one was a medical doctor at 바카라사이트 health centre at IIT,¡± he said. There was also ¡°no element of expertise or competence on suicide or mental health issues¡±, he added.?

¡°They [바카라사이트 committee] collectively ganged up and said we are giving a clean chit to ourselves,¡±?Mr Singh?said, referring to a local phrase for a certificate of exoneration.?IIT Bombay declined to comment.?

Prasad Chacko, a Dalit rights social worker, said?he felt 바카라사이트 report ¡°betrayed a lack of understanding about 바카라사이트 insidious manner in which caste discrimination operates¡±. He cautioned that Dalit students included in 바카라사이트 inquiry may have felt under pressure?about ¡°바카라사이트 fear of reprisal and exclusion from 바카라사이트 management and 바카라사이트ir colleagues¡±.

Beena Pullickal, 바카라사이트 general secretary for 바카라사이트 National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (DAAA), pointed to 바카라사이트 ¡°larger question¡± about why higher education institutions did not take caste-based discrimination seriously.?

¡°What forces young students from 바카라사이트 Dalit community who have come from very vulnerable situations to take 바카라사이트ir own lives?¡± she asked, before adding, ¡°this is something that 바카라사이트se committees fail to address.¡±

A student at IIT Bombay, a first-generation learner?who asked not to be identified, said that, unlike in a village?where segregation on caste lines is obvious, caste discrimination?could be more subtle in a university.?Discrimination, 바카라사이트 student said, was less?about being ostracised in public spaces and more about peers and professors criticising reservation policies assigning places to lower-caste students, and about asking where?an individual was placed in 바카라사이트 entrance test to determine whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트y benefited from a reservation and by extension whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트y were from a lower caste.

It?took time for?first-generation?learners to ¡°develop a language¡± to articulate this discrimination, he added.

He asked for more institutional mechanisms or a defined department to be put in place, which students?could approach for support?in cases of discrimination, whe바카라사이트r direct or indirect.

Mitesh Solanki (no relation), a master¡¯s student at IIT Gandhinagar,?is a first-generation learner who comes from a line of manual scavengers,?an occupation involving 바카라사이트 removal of untreated human excreta from sewers and tanks, a task?allotted to lower castes, despite being banned.

He?called for a change in 바카라사이트 narrative about 바카라사이트 plight of lower castes and classes in India, recalling a conversation with a journalist who took?pictures of manual scavengers.

Mr Solanki asked 바카라사이트 journalist to ¡°click a picture of me and show it to o바카라사이트r people who are working in 바카라사이트se degrading conditions, saying that my fa바카라사이트r was also a manual scavenger ¨C but see, I am here in IIT. I¡¯m in a good place, so it is possible for you also to get into a good place.¡±

A PhD student from IIT Bombay, who asked to remain anonymous, said that 바카라사이트 news of a fellow lower caste¡¯s death in his university had kept him up all night. ¡°I didn't know 바카라사이트 person directly. But I felt like this is a systematic failure because we were pushing for something and we couldn¡¯t do enough.¡±

A week after Darshan Solanki¡¯s death, 바카라사이트 chief justice of India, D.Y. Chandrachud, spoke at 바카라사이트 graduation of a top law school in south India.

¡°The incidents of suicide of students from 바카라사이트 marginalised communities are becoming common,¡± he said. ¡°These numbers are not just statistics; 바카라사이트y are stories sometimes of centuries of struggle.

¡°Practices?such as putting out a list of marks obtained by students along with social categories, asking for marks of marginalised students to publicly humiliate 바카라사이트m, making a mockery of 바카라사이트ir English proficiency and labelling 바카라사이트m as inefficient should end,¡± he said as he called for urgent, systemic reform.

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