All India Forum for Right to Education
16 Jan 2018
AIFRTE Press Statement condemning the abusive and threatening public reference on Facebook by ABVP student against Prof. K. Laxminarayana,
University of Hyderabad, and the partisan and criminal inaction of the University authorities
AIFRTE
strongly condemns the abusive and threatening public reference on
Facebook to senior Prof. K. Laxminarayana of the School of Economics,
University of Hyderabad by a student, Kaluram Palsaniya alias Karan
Palsaniya belonging to the ABVP, at the Department of History of the
same university. Claiming to be a critique of an examination paper set
by Prof. Laxminarayana for the elective option Economics of Education,
the intemperate response of the ABVP student in fact targets a specific
question on the impact of 'privatization and saffronization’ on higher
education.
However,
there is more to the highly politically motivated reaction of this
student. Prof. Laxminarayana had published a critical analysis of the
Justice Roopanwal Commision set up by MHRD to enquire into the
circumstances leading to the 'suicide’ of Dalit Ph.D scholar Rohith
Vemula [Why Justice Roopanwal’s Report is a Travesty? Economic & Political Weekly, vol. 52, issue no. 46, 18th November
2017]. Vemula’s `suicide’ had set off a nation-wide protest and
resistance against what was widely perceived as an institutional failure
to prevent social discrimination against Dalit research scholars, to
address their genuine academic grievances and to prevent rank
insensitivity and negligence such as not releasing scholarships for
months on end to scholars from very deprived sections of society. In
fact, the Supreme Court had asked universities to immediately enquire
into the causes of the high number of suicides of students from these
sections.
Prof.
Laxminarayana’s article clearly showed the role of Susheel Kumar, (an
ABVP student who posted abusive social media messages branding Ambedkar
Students Association (ASA) members as 'anti-nationals’
and 'goons’ while accusing them of assaulting him), of Bhartiya Janta
Party (BJP) MLC Ramachandra Rao, and Central Ministers Smriti Irani and
Dattareya in pressurizing the Vice- Chancellor and University
authorities to reverse the original findings of the proctorial board and
instead expel six Dalit scholars from the hostel. This expulsion was
widely seen as a form of 'social exclusion’ routinely experienced by
Dalits in villages. Consequently the expelled students referred to the
open area they occupied as velivada, the traditional name for the excluded zone earmarked for Dalits.
The
Justice Roopanwal Commision, as Prof. Laxminarayana’s article
forcefully argues, was “appointed by the Ministry of Human Resource
Development (MHRD) . . . when Rohith’s aggrieved friends lodged a case
under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of
Atrocities) Act which was pending against the then HRD Minister, Smriti
Irani, BJP minister Bandaru Dattareya and other prominent BJP
functionaries and the Vice-Chancellor Appa Rao Podile. Second, the
Commission had no Dalit member in spite of it being mandatory to look
into the facts surrounding the death of a Dalit scholar...”
It
looked at no fresh or countervailing evidence, ignored the original
proctorial report which recommended moderate disciplinary action
against both sides, as also the medical reports that gave no
evidence of ABVP’s Susheel Kumar either having been assaulted or injured
as he claimed. The Commission’s Report merely repeated the conclusions
arrived at by inquiries of subsequent committees which had been
instigated by intense pressure from BJP leaders and ministers.
Further,
the Report, as Prof. Laxminarayan’s article points out, far exceeded
its mandate in taking up an issue that could only be examined by the
revenue department and not in civil court, i.e. the caste status of
Rohith Vemula. In concluding that Rohith was a non-Dalit, the Roopanwal
Commission’s Report was therefore both “illegal and unethical”. From the
age of three years, Rohith was raised along with his siblings by his
Dalit mother on her meager earnings as a domestic help, as her OBC
husband had deserted her because of her caste status.
However,
the Report `saved’ the BJP ministers and members, and the University’s
V.C. and other officials from prosecution under the Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Against
this background, the abusive facebook entry acquires a menacing aspect.
We have seen how the Sangh Parivar’s Hindutva groups, of which ABVP is a
prominent presence within the institutions of higher education, have
politically, ideologically and even physically targeted intellectuals
and scholars who hold different views which are secular, constitutional
and democratic. In an earlier case of use of abusive language on a
poster of Dr. Ambedkar, the enquiry committee had felt it necessary to
suspend a student for one-and-a-half years as this use of uncivilized
language by the ABVP is sought to be made a regular form of assault and
public humiliation against any persons who oppose their ideology and
misconduct on the campus.
As
a faculty member, as a member of the University’s Executive Council and
as former President of the Hyderabad University’s Teachers Association,
Prof. Laxminarayana’s contribution to the development of the University
is well-established. As such, we are shocked that the University has
failed to respond to or take any action on his complaint which was
submitted to the University’s Vice-Chancellor and Chief Proctor on 30th November 2017.
As
an active member of the Save Education Committee of united Andhra
Pradesh and as the current Organizing Secretary of the Save Education
Committee of Telangana, and as member of the National Executive of the
AIFRTE, Prof. Laxminarayana is also a leading figure in the all-India
education movement. Scholars like Prof. Laxminarayana, who promote and
advance democratic struggles for social justice, have been viciously
targeted by the Hindutva forces. As such we take this intellectual and
personal threat to Prof. Laxminarayana with all the seriousness that it
deserves.
AIFRTE demands that
- Kaluram Palsaniya alias Karan Palsaniya, Ph.D student of the Department of History, University of Hyderabad, be suspended immediately for abusing, seeking to defame and humiliate a senior Professor of the University of Hyderabad;
- Authorities should conduct an enquiry as per University policy and rules to decide the quantum of punishment that Kaluram Palsaniya alias Karan Palsaniya should receive;
- University should explain why no action was taken against Kaluram Palsaniya alias Karan Palsaniya following the offence and even after receiving the representation of Prof. K. Laxminarayana on 30th November 2017;
- Criminal proceedings should be initiated against Kaluram Palsaniya alias Karan Palsaniya for seeking to promote ill-will, enmity and hatred towards Prof. Laxminarayana with a view to threatening his life and liberty.
AIFRTE Presidium
Dr. Anand Teltumbde, Goa, Senior Professor, Goa Institute of Management
