Caste hatred that cannot be swept away
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The unnatural death of R.L. Nithin Raj, a first-year student at the dental college in Anjarakandy, Kannur and a native of Chalakkad, has come as a severe blow to Kerala’s pretensions of progressivism. His father and relatives say that Nithin, who had diligently prepared for the NEET and held high hopes for his career, was unlikely to have died by suicide. They point out that his body being found in a different location away from his own college raises strong suspicions of murder. Audio messages that have now surfaced, along with accounts from his classmates, make it clear that since joining the college, Nithin had been subjected to colour-, race-, and caste-based discrimination and hatred from teachers and senior students. The attempt by the head of the department and other faculty members—driven by cruel and vile caste and racial prejudice—to crush, at a tender stage, a young dental student who was the promise of the future is deeply shocking to anyone with humanity. In a land where self-proclaimed progressives loudly preach “do not ask caste, do not speak religion", those who experience caste and religious discrimination in schools, workplaces, and everywhere else are branded as sinners the moment they raise their voices. It is in such a hypocritical environment that a first-year dental student was branded with slurs like “dark-skinned” and “rotten dog” and effectively pushed towards death.
In connection with the death of R.L. Nithin Raj, a case has been registered against teachers Dr. K. Ram, Head of the Oral Pathology Department, and Dr. Sangeetha Nambiar, on charges of abetment to suicide. Provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act have also been invoked against them. A seven-member special investigation team, led by an Assistant Commissioner of Police, has been assigned to probe the case. The Health Sciences University has also constituted an inquiry committee. The police’s preliminary assessment is that Nithin Raj’s death was a suicide. However, his body was not found in a manner suggesting a fall or jump from a campus building. Instead, it was discovered lying near the reception area of the dental college hospital. There are allegations that the police were informed only hours after the body was found. His father also points out that the absence of serious injuries on the body is suspicious. An audio message recovered states that a teacher who had subjected Nithin to caste slurs and mental harassment had threatened to harm him. It is in light of these circumstances that the family maintains that it was a case of murder. All this cloud of suspicions must be cleared through a thorough investigation. The state government must act promptly and ensure that the guilty are given stringent punishment.
Whether it was suicide or murder, there is no doubt that it was extreme caste hatred that led to the death of this young student . The abusive conduct of teachers who harbour a decayed caste mindset is a spit in the face of Kerala, which loudly claims to be casteless. It is an affront to a society that prides itself on viewing education as an investment in culture and enlightenment, as those in the guise of teachers at the Kannur Dental College mock it through verbal abuse and blackmail. Nithin became a victim of the bloodlust of inhuman teachers who carry an indelible caste prejudice—unable to accept how someone they deem inferior by caste or skin colour could study and excel. His “fault” was that he openly told a teacher, who routinely hurled abuses within the institution, that he was no longer willing to endure it. This incident proves that no matter how highly educated one may be, without shedding caste consciousness and colour discrimination, one cannot attain true humanity.
Earlier, Rohith Vemula, a PhD scholar at the University of Hyderabad, and Dr Payal Tadvi, a postgraduate medical student in Mumbai, became victims, and were sacrificed at the altar of caste oppression that runs rampant in higher education. It must also be noted that the proposed “Rohith Vemula Act,” formed in response to such caste atrocities in the education sector, has still not been implemented in Kerala. While the so-called Left loudly proclaims that caste and religion are not issues, one wonders how absurd it is that it is in the very soil they have tilled that educational institutions are building sick rooms for the colour-discrimination experiments of caste fanatics—and even forcing those observing fast to drink water. It is also worth recalling, in this context, that K. Radhakrishnan, a former Left minister, was subjected to untouchability—ironically at a temple in Kannur.
Caste hatred and religious intolerance are not things that can be swept away by denial or overcome by creating false impressions. Such atrocities can be curbed only by firmly restraining them through law and by making it clear, through the exercise of authority, that they will not be tolerated at any time. All political parties must also refrain from positions that legitimise these base ideologies in vote-bank politics. Without making that effort, merely stirring up occasional bursts of protest and resistance each time a life is lost will not suffice.