Following the use of casteist slurs against SC/STs and Dr BR Ambedkar in a skit performed by the Jain University Centre for Management Studies students at a college festival, six students have been suspended over the incident.
The suspended students were part of a skit that displayed caste discrimination, insulted India’s constitution writer Dr B R Ambedkar and also took a dig at the reservation system in the country.
A number of police complaints we’re registered against the students. Aakshay Bansode, state member Yuva of Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi filed a complaint in Nanded district of Maharashtra seeking strict action.
“The skit is highly casteist and performed with serious ill motives and to intentionally insult and humiliate the community and people belonging to it. Moreover, the derogatory and defamatory statement about Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar is also highly offensive at large and showcases the intention of the performers and the university authorities as this act went through various checks yet was allowed to perform on stage and publish on social media,” Bansode’s complaint stated.
An FIR against the principal and senior officials of the university has been filed at the Siddapura police station in Jayanagar.
Postgraduate students and research fellows of Bangalore University have also filed a police complaint at the Jnanabharati police station.
Earlier in the day students of NSUI Karnataka and many Dalit organisations protested in front of the Jain college demanding action against those involved in the skit. Police were called to control the protest.
The skit was performed on February 4 by a group called ‘The Delroys Boys’ as part of ‘MadAds,’ a segment at the fest where the participants had to advertise imaginary products along lines of humour.
The students have reportedly tendered an unconditional apology to the college management. However, the issue seems to brew and not settle down. On Thursday evening a group of students published an online petition on Jhatkaa.org bringing the incident to light.
