Casteism, suicide of a student and politics of death

Hyderabad University student Rohith Vemula committed suicide. Based on his suicide note and some previous letters it looks like he was unhappy with the education system or society in general because of some incidents in his life. His being a Dalit might have played a role in this frustration, which resulted in a loss of all hope of justice, and in that frustration, he might have taken this extreme step. These things may or may not be true and may not be the real reason behind his suicide, but this is what everyone is predicting based on events that transpired before and after his death. In his suicide note, he doesn't blame anyone in particular for his death but there are many hints to conclude that the system's failure to make him believe that justice can be done with him might be one of the reasons for this extreme step. Casteism still exists in India in various forms. People still suffer from caste discrimination and it is really sad. There are many attempts from all quarters of society to remove this evil but somehow it still exists. It is a form of discrimination like racism in Western societies, so it is a very serious issue that doesn't get as much attention.

Caste starts playing its role in a person's life in India since their birth. School and college admissions depend on it. Therefore, which field they can choose for their career also depends on it. During marriage, many people are very rigid about the caste criteria so the choice of a life partner also depends on caste. It is still a very important factor in Indian politics. So, no matter how much people deny it, the truth is that caste and casteism still very much exist in Indian society and it plays a major role in people's behavior. But one thing has definitely changed, the way this discrimination is practiced now is very different compared to fifty years back. Now there are no separate wells for Dalits or they are not treated as untouchables publicly as they were in the past but discrimination is practiced in a very subtle way. One can feel it in people's behavior, one can feel it during elections but superficially everything looks very normal until something tragic like this happens. 

Maybe we will never know the real reason behind Rohith's suicide, but we know that caste-based discrimination still exists. When I say caste-based discrimination I am not just talking about so-called lower castes discriminated by so-called upper castes but it happens the other way around also. Discrimination is discrimination it doesn't matter who is a perpetrator and who is a victim. It should be treated with equal seriousness. These castes are nothing but one crude criterion to measure the social status of a particular community. Every society has this system in some form or another. In some countries, it is in the form of race, where only people from certain races occupy certain spaces and hold powerful positions, in India it took the form of a caste system. In some countries, it is in the form of economic class. For this tragedy, instead of trying to find real reasons behind it very ugly politics is being played by every group involved in it. The death of one university student has become a big political capital. Many parties are trying to reap as much political mileage as possible from this tragic incident. University student organizations are involved in politics, so some sort of political power play was expected but the way the HRD minister tried to present wrong facts to cover up their mistakes and other political parties are trying to take advantage of this situation is really sickening. The press conference of the HRD minister was one such horrible scenario where she said that this issue should not be looked at as Dalit vs non-dalit and then went on to mention the word 'Dalit' so many times in her statement. The fact is that a student committed suicide, one can blame him for taking this step but we need to ask was this tragedy preventable? Is the current social, political, and educational system in any way responsible for this? If they are, then we need to look at the system and check what are the things that can be improved to avoid such incidents in the future. The government should recognize its mistakes and try to take corrective action rather than offering some lame excuses. In any progressive society, there should be ample scope to express dissent against anything, if dissenting voices are crushed then it can result in something tragic incident like this.

After Rohith's death, everyone from our PM to ministers, to the general public, and even the media seemed to be concerned about his family and his problems but why no one bothered to look into his problems when he was still alive? Why university administration was so insensitive towards him? Why do farmers, students, or any common person become so important only after their death? All concerned people need to give answers to all these questions. 

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright : Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]