‘Freedom to study denied’: Dalit scholar protests caste discrimination at Kerala varsity
Trivandrum: A Dalit doctoral scholar and her mother have launched a protest at a university in Kerala, alleging caste and gender discrimination, harassment and a deliberate obstruction of her academic research for more than a year.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Anagha Shashi, an environmental science researcher at Thunchath Ezhuthachan Malayalam University, began the sit-in with her mother, Ambika Shashi, at midnight on August 14. They said they deliberately began their sit-in 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 education.
As per a media report, Shashi completed her PhD coursework more than a year ago but has been unable to begin her research because the university failed to convene the required doctoral committee and process her annual progress report.
Shashi, who belongs to India’s historically oppressed Dalit community, said that while her academic work remained stalled, faculty members assigned her menial tasks such as cleaning and arranging laboratory equipment, dusting materials and organizing old records and dissertations. She also said she was denied a chair and workspace and was at times made to sit in a corridor. Her research proposals, she added, were repeatedly returned without substantive guidance.
Shashi said her academic supervisor Arun Babu V. and faculty member Jaini Varghese harassed her, adding the hostility intensified after she secured a state science fellowship and qualified India’s national eligibility examination for university teaching and research. She said faculty members mocked her academic funding with casteist remarks, including claims that she had obtained the fellowship because of her caste. She also said she was repeatedly encouraged to abandon her doctorate and warned that her fellowship could be withdrawn.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. She 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.
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. Shashi and her supporters welcomed the move as an initial victory but said they would continue protesting until their broader demands are addressed.
