“Social consciousness comes from the consciousness of the downtrodden”, was the first pamphlet published by Ambedkar Students Association (ASA) for the student community to get well versed with the ideological trajectory of Babasaheb and what ASA brings to the marginalized groups of the campus.
14th of April 1994, ASA was formed to deliberate a greater marginal solidarity amongst the campus community. Initially ASA greatly focused on the mess issues of first generation marginalized students in which they ensured that every student has access to mess food and does not fall under the defaulters list which was a list comprising only Dalit students. The discrimination in the mess space was always evident, this very issue eventually led to the criminalisation of ASA cadre and later the social boycott of five Dalit students including Rohith.
The volunteering of ASA members to become mess secretaries was a huge problem for the students of oppressor caste, as they could not involve themselves in the cost cutting of the raw goods and clutching onto the remainders with finesse. Allegations of corruption against Dalit mess secretaries was almost always the case. Professor KY Ratnam, who was a warden in the early 2000s for an interview with The Caravan said that a dominant-caste student was involved in misappropriating a sum of Rs 60,000. Yet dalit mess secretaries were always an easy target. When once, during a hostel feast in 2002, some dominant-caste students accused the mess secretary of serving beef in the name of mutton, a clash erupted between the Dalit and Dominant caste students. Prof Ratnam was targeted by Appa Rao and was stripped off his duty as a warden and was put in charge of the Sanitation and Gardening department. For Appa Rao a retaliation was incoming and rightly so, it did. When members of ASA protested in the Chief Warden's office against the transfer of a Dalit professor to the Sanitation department. The then chief warden Appa Rao who later became the Vice Chancellor, was allegedly slapped and beaten by the members of the ASA.
Mess spaces have become breeding grounds for prejudice against Dalit students, it reminds me of an incident in the year 2025, where a Dalit mess secretary was thrown food at by a dominant caste student for bad quality of food. Would he have dared to do the same against his caste kith and kins? Many cases at the University of Hyderabad are a testament to this rooted bias and deep seated love for their favourite retired Vice Chancellor, Appa Rao. Another instance where a first-year Economics student at University of Hyderabad, who was also a former member of the SFI (Students Federation of India), made derogatory remarks in a Whatsapp Hostel group, which consists of around 270 students. He stated, “Upper caste hoke, lower caste wali feeling aa raha hai, esa khana khake” (Even after being an Upper Caste, this mess food evokes a feeling of being a Lowered Caste) openly expressing his deep-seated caste supremacy by associating the food served in the mess with what he perceives as food consumed by the Lower Caste people. His casteist stance was further reinforced when he specifically asked the SC, ST, and OBC students in the group if they do not need nutrition and salad, suggesting that they are severely deprived of it and are kept deprived by ASA and DSU (Dalit Students Association). The UGC's anti-discrimination guidelines have a loophole, as the authorities ruled that the remarks were not targeted at a specific individual, and therefore, the complaint filed with the Anti-Discrimination Cell was not pursued further.
We should however revisit the abstract of the paper which was sent by Rohith to the Sociology department research conference.
Title of the paper : Discovering Caste Prejudices in Science Laboratories: Unheard Narratives.
Ideally, science laboratories are seen as rational, non-stigmatic avenues of research. Basic sciences, especially Life Sciences and Chemistry in HCU are considered as best research spaces in india. But these same spaces also have an untouched side of reproduction of caste inequalities. The rampant effect of caste relations inside HCU campus with specific to practices in science laboratories define the interpersonal relationships of the students. An amicable alliance between faculty members and the authority of these groups is largely driven by caste nexus. The inter play of Caste, Religion, Region and Gender are major determinant factors which affects the political structures of both laboratory space and classroom. Students and faculty who come from dominant sections consciously or unconsciously become major actors in maintaining this subtle hierarchy. Starting from the “star” mark in results notification, till the share in career/future opportunities, reserve category students face various forms of exclusiveness/humiliation in these spaces. The lack of social capital in research institutes across the nation and abroad, non-dominant caste students are forced to depend heavily on the mercy of their professors, who were in turn the perpetrators of these hierarchies. Sometimes, this form of discrimination is invisible and it is unintelligible. This paper mainly attempts to map this hidden caste nexus in formation of relationships and the impact of identity on ‘consensus building’ through my four years lived experiences in Life Sciences School. This paper also tries to reflect on the reproduction of inequalities in higher education spaces.
Mess spaces have become breeding grounds for prejudice against Dalit students.
Despite its broader resonance, the Rohith Vemula movement could not transform the university space, least of all his own Sociology Department, long celebrated for propagating egalitarianism in social sciences. This is painfully illustrated in 2025, when only 24 of 40 applicants of MA Sociology received dissertation approval, with a mere single Dalit student among them. Despite having a Dalit Head of Department, they were unable to facilitate dissertation for marginalized students, a critical step towards pursuing a PhD, particularly for those aspiring to study abroad.
Even a decade after Rohith’s institutional murder, contemporary caste issues continue to persist loudly in HCU. A Rohith Act, which criminalizes these loopholes, will prevail close to what Rohith envisioned.