The story of Kalpanath Ram might appear incredible to some, but to those millions born and bred as untouchables in India’s religiously sanctified racist society Ram’s case is not very different from that of theirs.
Kalpanath Ram, a Scheduled Caste student from Ghazipur (E. Uttar Pradesh,) is a brilliant scholar. He enrolled at the Benaras Hindu University, Varanasi, for the Master’s degree programme in Political Science in 1986 and stood first in the University in both the years of the degree course. Yet, he was denied the merit certificate normally given io university toppers of BHU because, according to him, the university authorities told him that the prestige of the BHU would be shattered if it were known that an untouchable had topped in one of its departments. Being insulted thus, Ram is now determined to strive to oppose the Brahminical system in every way he can.
According to Kalpanath, he was the sole SC student of his class with a total of 60 students. Most of the students were Brahmins and Rajput’s. In the Political Science Department of BHU, there are a total of 30 teachers, 29 of whom are Brahmins and one Rajput. in the whole of BHU, there are nearly 1,230 teachers, of which a mere three are SC/ST but not one of professor grade.
VC refuses to help: This, then was the social environment when Kalpanath came to the BHU to _study. The trouble began when Kalpanath stood first in the MA (previous) examination. Angered at this great performance by a Dalit student, Kalpanath says that some Hindu students threatened him, brandishing a gun, warning him not to appear for the MA (final) examination. He complained to the Vice-Chancellor of the BHU and the controller of Examinations, but they were unwilling to intervene in the matter.
The MA (final) exams which were scheduled to be held in 1988 were boycotted by the students of the Pol. Sc. dept. This was, according to Kalpanath, so to prevent him from standing first again. The final exams could only be held in 1989. Not surprisingly, Kalpanath stood first again in this examination. But, he says, he was awarded much lower marks in those papers marked internally by the BHU professors (who knew of his Dalit identity) and was marked much better and more fairly in those papers which were evaluated externally, outside the BHU (by examiners who did not know of his identity). Thus, in those papers internally evaluated, he scored 40%-41% and 43% respectively, while in the two external papers he scored 73% and 72% respectively. The vast difference between these two sets of marks clearly reveals the fact that he was victimized by the Savarna professors of BHU, merely because he was a Dalit. Yet, taking the overall performance of the two years of his MA Dalit Voice together, Kalpanath Ram topped the University. The normal practice in BHU is that the topper is awarded a certificate certifying that the particular student has stood first. But Kalpanath was rudely denied such a certificate by the university authorities, because they felt that it would be a blow to the prestige of the BHU, the great bastion of Brahminism, if it were publicly known that a Dalit had stood first.
Kalpanath went from pillar to post in an effort to seek justice. But justice eluded him. He approached the Vice-Chancellor, met the Controller of Examinations, wrote letters to the then PM, Rajiv Gandhi, the President of India, the SC/ST Commissioner… but remained without any response from them. His plight was highlighted in local dailies, but the upper caste authorities remained as hard-hearted as ever in their stand on not dispensing justice to him.
Separate mess for each Jati: Kalpanath has been at the BHU since 1982, staying at the Rajaram Mohan Roy Hostel. Yet, he says, he was never eaten food at the hostel mess even once till now. The upper caste students resent the very thought of his eating with them. He also states that each hostel has 3 (unofficially) separate messes — one each for the Brahmin, Bhumihar and Rajput students. No SC is employed as a cook in the mess. He says that when one SC friend took food in the Bhumihar mess of Rammohan Roy hostel, the Bhumihar students, on realizing his caste identity, forced him to stop eating there.
Untouchability is also practiced in the other hostels. He cites an incident in the Bhagwan Das hostel where the SC student, sitting on a chair watching TV was forced by the upper caste student’s the leave the chair – and sit on the floor, at their feet instead. Apparently for the Savarnas a Dalit sitting on a chair is too much of an insult (Manu advocates the slicing of a Shudra’s buttocks if he sits on the same couch or bench as Savarna). To take another example, a Dalit student was severely beaten with a rod by a Brahmin for having by mistake, splashed a little water on him (the irony of it is that this hostel is named after the “veteran socialist,” Acharya Narendra Dev, in whose name Chandrasekar swears. The list of similar cases continues…
Kalpanath’s story has an urgent message for India’s socially oppressed millions. let appears from his case, as well as from the countless others of a similar nature, that the “Hindu Rashia” being so fiercely advocated today by the Savarnas will prove to be disastrous and grossly inhuman not only for the religious minorities but also for the Dalits and Backward Castes — indeed, for the vast majority of the Indian population — the “Bahujan Samaj” — comprising full 85% of the people of this land.
