Anshul Kumar
JNU is at a crossroads once again in the realm of student politics. This time, the JNU community is up against its Vice Chancellor, Prof. Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit, for her remarks in a podcast where she said that Dalits, much like Blacks, are drugged into permanent victimhood. This was in light of the recent UGC guidelines that safeguarded caste discrimination for SC, ST, OBC, Women, PwD, and EWS students across university campuses in India.
The entire JNU community is up in arms against her, and JNUSU has even called for a lockdown of the university, seeking an apology from the VC for her remarks against Dalits. As of now, 14 members of the left and JNUSU are in judicial custody in Tihar Jail, with their bail being secured and awaiting their release.
To an outsider, it seems that JNU is fighting a novel cause for the rights of Dalits, but as an insider, people are kept bereft of the inner workings of left student politics in JNU in particular and India in general.
Left-led JNUSU office bearers recently damaged and destroyed the biometric installation in the Dr. Ambedkar Central Library, claiming that JNU stands against any form of surveillance. The biometric machines were public property, and hence, after a proctorial investigation, the office bearers of JNUSU were rusticated, and heavy fines were imposed on them.
Then came the UGC guidelines, the Supreme Court’s stay on these guidelines, and the VC’s remarks. All this happened around the same time.
Left parties and the JNUSU under their banner played their trick and hitchhiked to create a narrative for their political agenda.
When in reality, JNUSU office bearers were rusticated for destroying public property, they weaved a narrative that they were rusticated for protesting against the Supreme Court’s stay on UGC guidelines and Madam VC’s remarks against Dalits, as mentioned above.
When their narrative was successful, they brought the university to a halt, deliberately and forcefully locking down classrooms as part of the university strike and calling for lectures to be taken outside the classrooms as a mark of protest.
What’s intriguing here is that real Dalit politics has fallen victim to the Left’s narrative once again. Ambedkar has been appropriated in a manner that Dalit politics is either absent or subservient to the Left’s narrative.
Even UDSF, the United Dalit Students Forum—a non-political Dalit student front in JNU—is playing by the books of the Left, as it has called for the resignation of the JNU VC for her insensitive remarks against Dalits.
Now, let us dissect the remarks made by Madam VC. She said Dalits, like Blacks, are drugged into permanent victimhood.
While given her association with the RSS, the VC’s remarks are seen by Dalits as an injustice to their fight against caste and undermine the struggle of millions against discrimination and a life full of drudgery, Dalits have not given her statement even a second thought.
For a moment, we can accept that the VC’s remarks were not those of a well-wisher, but Dalits should not shy away from the question that is now put across to them: till when will they keep crying, victims? Have they become comfortable with being victims? Does victimhood sell? Whom does it support and benefit? Does it create political careers for climbers and caste hustlers without changing the status quo?
The time has come when, as Dalits, questions should be asked of the Dalit intelligentsia: even after more than 80 years of independence and the politics of victimhood, why are class disparities within Dalits at an all-time high?
Who will ask the Dalit intelligentsia the questions about where they have failed?
Why are Dalits afraid of internal criticism?
Is it that a class has emerged among Dalits that perpetually wants to maintain its class position so that the rest of the Dalits do not challenge them, and the politics of victimhood helps keep it that way?
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Anshul Kumar is currently pursuing an MA in Sociology at JNU.
