Rohith Vemula solidarity rally in Kerala, March 7, 2016. Wikicommons/ Zuhairali. Some rights reserved.Indian politics in 2016 has been marked by a rise of student protests and leading Indian universities have become battlegrounds for national politics. The ruling nationalist party has enabled Hindu nationalist activists to gain control over student politics. The label ‘anti-national’ has been used to curb politically articulate students who publicly question issues that are sensitive to the current government in Delhi.
More alarmingly, recent police violence and the imprisonment of students and teachers in Hyderabad Central University, South India, has escalated the politics of exclusion that oppresses Dalits and other minorities. Reports and videos appearing on social media showed premises normally characterised by sober academic activities overtaken by violence and turmoil. These violent developments, upon investigation, seem to be the result of coordinated action between Hindu nationalist students, the police and high-ranking university administrators.
This reflects a wider critical challenge for institutions of higher education in the world’s largest democracy. So, how is it that the power of Hindu nationalism can intensify the politics of caste-based exclusion in this way, turning an academic campus into something like a war zone?
