Kerala minister R Bindu reaches out to Dalit student protesting against casteism at MGU

Kerala Higher Education and Social Justice Minister R Bindu on Saturday reached out to the Dalit PhD student of Mahatma Gandhi University, who is sitting on a hunger strike against the alleged casteism faced by her, and assured to look into the complaint.

Deepa P Mohanan, a student studying at the university, is on a hunger strike since October 29 after a university teacher allegedly denied her access to resources needed to complete her PhD as she "belonged to the Dalit community".

In a Facebook post, Bindu wrote, "In connection with the hunger strike by Deepa P Mohanan, a Dalit student at MG University, the university authorities have looked into the matter and tried to ensure that it was resolved. The Vice-Chancellor assured Deepa that she would be given the opportunity to complete her research without any mental or technical hindrances and that she would be provided with all the necessary infrastructure, including library-lab-hostel facilities while taking her into confidence."

"Deepa has demanded action against the teacher. The strike has been going on for a long time and activities in the university have been disrupted. Earlier, Deepa had lodged a complaint with the High Court and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Commission. In view of this, the government aims to resolve the student's complaint as soon as possible."

"The university has been asking the university as to what is the hindrance in investigating the complaint and why is there a delay in removing the alleged teacher from office. The university has also been asked to inform what documents are available if there is a technical hindrance to it," wrote the Kerala minister.

The minister added that the state government is concerned about the health of the student.

"Personally, I'm concerned too. As soon as we get an explanation from the university, we will do the needful to ensure justice for the student. If the decision to remove the alleged teacher from the post is delayed, the government will ask the university to remove the teacher."

The Kerala Minister requested to the student withdraw from the strike with this assurance. "Deepa cannot be met in person as she was hospitalized after testing positive for COVID-19.#deepapmohanan #mguniversity," Bindu added.

Meanwhile, the University has removed the teacher from the post, an official statement by the university said.

( With inputs from ANI )