The Delhi University (DU) administration allegedly cancelled Brahmins and the Tapestry of Hindu Civilization: Weaving Bhartiya Heritage and Calling Astikas to Fulfil ṛșiṛṇa event in response to a protest spearheaded by progressive student groups. This event was planned by a group that calls themselves Brahmins of DU and it was to be held on May 10 at the university's North Campus Conference Centre.
Both the Students' Federation of India (SFI) and other progressive student organisations opposed the event.
These Left-aligned student organisations united under the name Humans of Delhi University and hosted an event on May 10 at the Arts Faculty of DU called Brahmanvad Chhodo, Jaati ke Bandhan Todo, which translates to "Desist Brahminism, break the barriers of caste". This was planned as a protest against the Brahmins of DU.
The Humans of Delhi University event was being billed as an open mike and picture show, discussing the current wave of events that are normalising casteist ideology on campus and supporting the views of right-wing nationalists.
However, in the progressive student groups' fight against the polarisation on campus, the Brahmins of DU event has been allegedly cancelled.
Taking the news to Instagram, SFI Delhi wrote, "Students of Delhi University will not bow down to any kind of divisive forces, whoever they may be! We will stand strongly against any form of casteist and communal politics in our campus. Jai Bhim, Lal Salaam!"
SFI speaks
Yashita Singh, Vice-President of SFI Delhi told EdexLive, "The casteist event has been cancelled because of the efforts of SFI." It was a successful campaign, Yashita said and added, "Universities are meant to be secular establishments. Furthermore, the event hosted by DU Brahmins had an 'exclusive' name."
"In contrast, we need to get permission from the administration to organise even a minor secular event or to organise a discourse on Dr BR Ambedkar or Shaheed Bhagat Singh. Furthermore, allowing these incidents (Brahmins and the Tapestry of Hindu Civilization) to occur says a lot about the administration," Yashita argues.
The event has been cancelled for two reasons, according to Parichay Yadav, a law student, member of the Humans of DU, and a state committee member of SFI. "The students' Humans of DU demonstration is the only event that placed pressure on the administration. Second, a Right to Information (RTI) request was made to find out which officials approved Brahmins and the Tapestry of Hindu Civilization event," he told EdexLive.
Will resist again and again
"We find this specific Brahmin event shocking, considering similar gatherings have been attempted in the past by casteist organisations. But we resisted then, we are resisting now, and we will continue to resist," Parichay emphasised, adding that their demonstration was meant to serve as a model for other students to follow in order to oppose similar incidents in the future.
"It is equally important for students to understand the nature of administration in polarising and saffroinising the educational institutions," Parichay stated.
Fight not over yet
The SFI unit's state committee member, Aditi Tyagi, stated that despite their success in getting the administration to revoke the Brahmins of DU event, the group was nevertheless able to pull off a massive rally on May 10.
"The battle has not been won yet. The fight is not over. We need to find out who originally gave the go-ahead," she stated, adding that the students union would make the final decision depending on the results of the RTI application.
