Days after Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula committed suicide in Hyderabad, a group of students of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) in Delhi posted `derogatory remarks` against Dalit and tribal students on social media.
The IIMC has formed a committee to probe allegations of “casteist” remarks against students belonging to the SC and ST community and has asked for a report within three weeks.
The group of around 17 students who wrote to the IIMC authorities said they do not want “punitive action” against their peers, but asked for a public apology and a “undertaking against the person” spreading these messages.
The matter was brought to the attention of the National Commission of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes after some students raised the issue with IIMC authorities.
A high-ranking MIB official said that Joint secretary Mihir Kumar Singh, (also the administrative joint secretary for IIMC), has been asked to inquire into it and submit a report to the ministry by February 10.
In their complaint, students have attached blog posts of several students who used derogatory remarks against Dalits and Adivasis. The first was posted on Facebook on January 18, a day after Vemula’s suicide. “We had an informal student-faculty debate on the issue of caste reservation. We then saw that one of the students had posted this message that was abusive and anti-reservation,” a student said, adding that many of their peers had “liked” the post and another had even written a blog supporting this. Several others defended the blog as “freedom of speech”.
Dalit and tribal students said they were also subject to taunts as they went about their classes. “There were hashtags on social media … comments passed against students when they walked in the corridors,” another student said.
