Dalit scholar protests caste discrimination at Indian university

NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — A Dalit doctoral scholar and her mother have launched a protest at a university in India’s southern Kerala state, accusing faculty members of caste and gender discrimination that allegedly subjected her to degrading work while obstructing her academic research for more than a year.

Anagha Shashi, an environmental science researcher at Thunchath Ezhuthachan Malayalam University, began the protest with her mother, Ambika Shashi, on the eve of India’s Independence Day. 

According to Maktoob Media, Shashi says she completed her PhD coursework more than a year ago but has been unable to begin research because the university failed to convene a required doctoral committee and process her annual progress report.

Shashi, who belongs to India’s historically oppressed Dalit community, alleges that while her academic work remained stalled, faculty members required her to clean and arrange laboratory equipment, dust materials and organize old records and dissertations.

She also alleges she was denied a chair and workspace and was at times forced to remain in a corridor. Her research proposals, meanwhile, were repeatedly returned without substantive guidance, she said.

The scholar has accused her academic supervisor Arun Babu V. and faculty member Jaini Varghese of harassment. She alleges the hostility intensified after she secured a state science fellowship and qualified India’s national eligibility examination for university teaching and research.

Shashi said faculty members mocked her academic funding with casteist remarks, including claims that she had obtained the fellowship because of her caste. Such allegations carry particular significance in India, where affirmative-action policies provide educational opportunities for Dalits following centuries of exclusion under the Hindu caste hierarchy.

She also alleges she was repeatedly encouraged to abandon her doctorate and warned that her fellowship could be withdrawn.

Shashi said the prolonged harassment severely affected her mental health. Her mother said the family had borrowed money to finance her education and began filing complaints with university and government authorities in 2025 after the situation deteriorated.

The mother and daughter deliberately began their sit-in at midnight on Aug. 14, as India entered its Independence Day, saying the timing was intended to highlight what they described as the denial of Shashi’s freedom to pursue an education.

Shashi has also accused a former roommate affiliated with the Students’ Federation of India, or SFI, of caste discrimination, including forcing her to clean a toilet. The SFI said the controversy was being diverted from the scholar’s demand for justice toward attacks on the organization.

The university has disputed aspects of Shashi’s allegations, saying its Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Cell previously investigated her complaint and found no evidence supporting it. Shashi has challenged that account, alleging irregularities in how statements for the inquiry were collected.

Her supporters are demanding an independent investigation, immediate steps allowing her research to proceed and action against faculty members accused of discrimination.

After six days of protest, the university announced a judicial inquiry Wednesday. Kerala Higher Education Minister Roji M. John also spoke with Shashi on Thursday and assured her that necessary action would be taken.

Shashi and her supporters welcomed the inquiry as an initial victory but said they would continue protesting until their broader demands are addressed.