Expelled Dalit students of BBAU gets support from former JNUSU prez Kanhaiya

LUCKNOW: With each passing day, the fight of eight expelled Dalit students of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University is getting stronger. On Monday, six of the eight expelled students met the Union minister of state for social justice and empowerment Ramdas Athawale and sought his intervention in revoking their expulsions. On Sunday late, an expelled student, Shreyat Bouddh met former JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar who assured him support and taking up the issue nationally.
Kumar, in fact raised his voice in favour of Dalit students of BBAU while addressing audience at a progrmme organised by All India Student Federation (AISF) on Sunday. ``Such incidents are happening in Central universities. The first was of Rohith Vemula at Hyderabad University and now it’s BBAU,’’ Kumar said.
Expressing solidarity with the expelled students, a delegation of UP’s Aarakshan Bachao Sangarsh Samiti, on Sunday, handed over a representation to BSP MLA Gaya Charan Dinkar who was recently elected as the Leader of Opposition in UP assembly. The ABSS members have threatened stir-in if justice is not done and FIR is not lodged against the teacher Kamal Jaiswal, who alleged expelled students has framed them, and got his shirt torn himself.
Jaiswal, instead alleged that the Dalit students had attacked and manhandled him on September 7 after he walked out of the vice-chancellor’s office attending a meeting which ended at around 9.15 pm. Jaiswal has also lodged an FIR against six Dalit students. In the incident, assistant registrar DR Sahu allegedly too was hurt.
Since the incident, expelled Dalit students have been protesting and have started war against the university administration on social media. Dalit students from different educational institutions like Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mahatma Gandhi Hindi University, Wardha and Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi have been staging protests and burning effigies of Jaiswal and university administration who expelled the eight students. Expelled students have also lodged complaint with the National Commission for Scheduled Castes seeking their intervention.
Recently, Delhi’s Akhil Bhartiya Dalit and Muslim Mahasangh (ABDMM) wrote a letter to the UP governor Ram Naik stating that discrimination against the Dalits is on rise at BBAU increasing the possibility of another Rohith Vemula case. It is a matter of disgrace that Dalit students are thrown out of the hostel despite most of them holding a brilliant academic record, said ABDMM members.