Surya
(TW: Mention of suicide)
“How can they be so cruel? How can they just throw out someone who has been there for years? Do they know the struggles of a person who loses their livelihood? Do they even care? I had to give up my flat in Mukherjee Nagar and move in with my cousin. Do they know what it does to their psyche? I have not
slept in days. Do they know what it does to their kin? My mother’s health has deteriorated. She has lost her eyesight. How can they be this insensitive? How?”
-Professor Samarvir Singh, shortly before his death.
The death of Delhi University Professor Samarvir Singh has once again shed light on the deeply rooted issues of caste-based discrimination prevailing within the Indian academic system. This shameful incident serves as a grim reminder that despite pretensions of progress in various aspects of society, abject casteism continues to persist, impeding the growth and inclusivity of our educational institutions.
The oppressive caste system that is still very much alive in modern India, assigns individuals to hierarchical positions based on their birth, perpetuating social and economic inequality. In theory, educational institutions should serve as catalysts for social change, challenging such prejudices. The oppressive caste system that is still very much alive in modern India, assigns individuals to hierarchical positions based on their birth, perpetuating social and economic inequality.
In theory, educational institutions should serve as catalysts for social change, challenging such prejudices. However in practice, caste-based discrimination seeps into the very foundations of academia, creating an environment that perpetuates inequality and denies opportunities for marginalised communities. The profit-driven model of education only infringes on these existing forms of disparity, and uses it further to suppress wages, maintain the hegemony of the affluent, and the upper caste, and suppress resistance.
Exclusionary policies like the NEP which make no attempts at introducing and strengthening caste-based
affirmative action are complicit.
The untimely death by suicide of Professor Samarvir Singh serves as a
heartbreaking example of the consequences of caste-based discrimination within academia. Reports
indicate that Prof. Samarvir faced persistent discrimination and humiliation from colleagues and authorities, which ultimately led to this tragic decision to end his life. Such incidents expose the dark underbelly of higher education institutions, where caste-based prejudices fester and deprive deserving
individuals of their right to education and dignity.
Prof. Samarvir came from a small town in Rajasthan, and belonged to the OBCcommunity. It was after immense struggle that he had made it to where he was, and that bears testimony to his dedication. Casteist discrimination prevalent in academia was a central cause behind the institutionally-coerced
suicide of the scholar and activist Rohith Vemula, who has inspired an entire generation of radical youth to fight firmly against the casteist and Brahminical institutions in our country, and build a democratic future. In February this year, Darshan Solanki from IIT Bombay took his own life, after facing caste-discrimination and receiving absolutely no support from the university authorities. He was a first generation learner, who had shown the audacity to assert that he too will find a place in our great educational institutions. Alas, this too wasn’t allowed to the young man.
Prof Samarvir’s colleague recalls, “Samarveer was teaching in the Department of Philosophy for six years. He was a favourite among students. He loved teaching, he loved writing. He spoke passionately of Camus’ and Kafka’s works.”
Despite there being 4 vacant positions in his department, Prof Samarvir remained an ad hoc teacher. This system of precarious work allows the administration to extract labour from the faculty, without having to bear any responsibility for their well-being, with no concern for leaves, or basic and minimal social security. It is the experience of ad hoc faculty across the country that they continue to be exploited while being treated disrespectfully.
The Delhi University management has conveniently brushed this incident under the bright carpets of the college fest where the Vice Chancellor was seen dancing and partying the very next day, after Prof. Samarvir’s death. The struggle to fight against institutional casteism and to democratise our educational institutions, goes on. Let us intensify this struggle.
