Casteist Skit Row Shows Why Private Universities Need to Take Caste Seriously

Our educational system lacks the critical approach necessary to make students think rigorously about caste system.

(Photo Courtesy: Jain (Deemed to Be) University website

College festivals are a time of joy, celebration and learning. However, what went down at the college festival of Jain (Deemed to Be) University, Bengaluru last week was deeply shameful.

A group of students belonging to the university's Center for Management Studies performed a skit that the students probably thought was insanely funny and a biting social critique. But, if one were to go by the snippets circulated online, it was instead unfunny, unoriginal and absolutely casteist.

In the short clip shared on social media, one could see the staple of casteist humour – mockery of reservation policies, insulting comments about Dalits, and clichéd puns about Dr BR Ambedkar. And, for added measure, it also made light of the inhumane but widely prevalent practice of untouchability.

If we closely observe the skit itself and the response it attracted, we can conclude two things:

1. Our educational institutions have a long way to go in addressing casteism on campus.

2. The anti-caste movement is now pan-India and so robust that it will not let any such incident slide by any more.

As soon as the clippings from the skit were shared on social media, Ambedkarites and others were swift to condemn the students behind the skit and also the university for allowing such a despicable performance to take place on campus.

A youth leader from the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) filed a police case in Nanded, Maharashtra against the students and the university. VBA President Prakash Ambedkar wrote on Twitter,

"Humour in the hands of the oppressed can be a tool to fight back but humour in the hands of the oppressor only, becomes a tool for oppression. Bahujan students have already faced enough struggles to reach places of higher education to go on and bear this on their campus. Universities, educational institutions and colleges along with the responsible persons should demonstrate a certain level of diligence and political correctness while conducting such events and granting them permissions."

A case was filed in Bengaluru too, after which the police arrested nine people, including the principal of the Jain University, Dinesh Nilkant, on Monday, 13 February. The police have slapped various provisions of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against the accused.

Earlier, members of the National Students Union of India had protested against the skit in front of the Center for Management Studies.

Many other groups in Karnataka and elsewhere have registered their protest. A strongly worded statement condemning the incident was going around and had gathered close to 4,000 signatures at the time of writing.

The statement read,

"The promotion of harmful and offensive content has no place in any educational or public platform, and goes against the ideals that Ambedkar and others have fought so hard to uphold. We must all strive to create a more just and equal society, one that honors the legacy of leaders like BR Ambedkar and continues their mission of progress and equality for all."

The entry of Blue Material – an all-Dalit lineup of standup comics – has shaken up the comedy world with their openness about their identities as well as their upfront critique of caste. These comics – Manaal Patil, Manjeet Sarkar, Ravi Gaikwad, Ankur Tangade and Mayur Kamble – have managed to invert the jokes around quotas, being a Dalit and so on and thus actually offer a biting social critique.

However, the insensitive skit at the Jain University shows that India's comedy scene, as far as caste is concerned, still has a long long way to go.

Private Universities Need to Do More

The private educational institutions in India aren't mandated to implement reservation policy. Furthermore, the fees that these universities charge are so exorbitant, it wouldn't be surprising if most of their students are upper class, upper caste.

A university is supposed to be a place where students meet people unlike themselves; their encounters broaden their world view and challenge their prejudicial beliefs. They get to make friends with people from other sociocultural backgrounds and experience a bigger, more diverse world than their parochial home environment.

But looking at the disdain shown by upper caste students towards Bahujans at these universities, their understanding of caste system and how they constantly deride reservation policy, it would seem these universities are a mirror image of upper caste homes.

What is more appalling is that even the professors betray the same caste prejudices and public universities have been no better in this respect.

In 2021, a professor at Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Seema Singh, had hurled abuses towards students belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and Persons with Disabilities. While this was a public outburst that was also caught on camera, many professors hold the same disdain towards "reserved category" students but express it in subtler forms.

Our educational system lacks the critical approach necessary to make upper caste students think rigorously about caste system, make them aware of their position in the caste hierarchy and teach them to be more sympathetic towards others.

The Jain (Deemed to Be) University has an Equal Opportunities Cell but one wonders how active it is. The university needs to invest more in sensitising students about caste system and incorporate caste critique in the syllabus.

Also, the Indian government must take steps towards implementing reservations in private educational institutions so that the campuses are more diverse and reflective of Indian society outside.