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Lucknow: BBAU dalit student says no to medal
Sudhakar Pushkar, who belongs to scheduled caste, said he was doing so because of university administration’s “discriminatory attitude towards dalit students.”
A dalit student of the Babasaheb Bhimarao Ambedkar University (BBAU) has refused to accept medal at the university’s convocation on December 15. President Ram Nath Kovind will be the chief guest at the event.
Sudhakar Pushkar, who belongs to scheduled caste, said he was doing so because of university administration’s “discriminatory attitude towards dalit students.”
“Officials are harassing the dalit students in the university. Dalit students are rusticated and punished severely which is not the case with general category students. You cannot have two separate rules for student community,” he said.
Sudhakar, who is pursuing PhD from the university, said his protest was against the system prevailing in the university and it had nothing to do with the President’s visit.
A UGC audit report had recently flayed Ambedkar university for the caste politics prevalent on its campus. “The ‘final death knell’ for the university is the role of caste and the part it has played in completely polarising the institution into various groups, special interests, political groupings,” the report had said.
Read: UGC warning to Bhimrao Ambedkar University faculty on discrimination against SC, ST students
It may be recalled that dalit students had also protested during PM Narenra Modi visit to BBAU convocation in January 2016.
