On Ambedkar anniversary, Dalit scholar ‘evicted’ from EFLU, Hyderabad

[ranju rad]

On Ambedkar anniversary, Dalit scholar ‘evicted’ from Hyderabad varsity

• HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times, Hyderabad
 |  
• Updated: Apr 15, 2016 07:37 IST

A Dalit student of the university alleged he may have been targeted by the university for supporting Rohith Vemula, who committed suicide over alleged caste discrimination. (Photo from EFLU website)

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A Dalit research scholar was allegedly evicted from a university in Hyderabad on Thursday, sparking anger among students attending a function to mark the 125th birth anniversary of BR Ambedkar.

Koonal Duggal said he may have been targeted by the English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU) for participating in the agitation seeking justice for Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula whose suicide in January sparked a debate over caste bias on campuses.

“The moment I finished my speech and song, three security guards pushed me and tried to forcibly take me to (the) chief security officer,” Koonal told HT.

He quoted the security officer as saying that university proctor Kona Prakash Reddy had barred his entry into the campus.

“They did not give any reason for this. They, in fact, disrupted the event,” he added.

University officials were not available for comments.

Read | Rohith Vemula’s brother, mother embrace Buddhism

Koonal, who hails from Delhi, is pursuing his PhD on “caste and religious politics in contemporary Punjab”.

Associated with the Dalit Adivasi Bahujan Minority Association (DAMA), Koonal is also working as a guest faculty at the University of Hyderabad (UoH) where Vemula studied.

Koonal also participated in protests after the rustication of three Dalit students by the administration.

Some students alleged that the proctor had called the police on Wednesday night when they were cleaning and re-painting Ambedkar’s statue. However, the police left the campus without any action.

Koonal lodged a complaint with Osmania University police station against the proctor, saying he was harassed and humiliated in front of the student community.

The university security guards also lodged a complaint against Koonal, saying he trespassed into the campus.

“The security official says Koonal is no longer a student of the university,” said V. Ashok Reddy, inspector at the Osmania University police station.

The official said they have registered cases on both the complaints and would take further action after an inquiry.

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" The so called caste-hindus are bitterly opposed to the depressed class using a public tank not because they really believe that the water will be thereby spoiled or will evaporate but because they are afraid of losing their superiority of caste and of equality being established between the former and the latter. We are resorting to this satyagraha not becasue we believe that the water of this particular tank has any exceptional qualities, but to establish our natural rights as citizens and human beings."

- Dr B.R. Ambedkar, Mahad Satyagraha Conference, December 25th , 1927