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Trivandrum: In yet another troubling case of caste discrimination and academic harassment in Modi\u2019s India, the PhD degree of Dalit research scholar Vipin Vijayan from Kerala University has been withheld by the Dean of the Sanskrit Department, Dr. CN Vijayakumari, despite his fulfillment of all formal academic requirements.<\/p>\n
According to Kashmir Media Service, Vijayan, who completed his M.Phil and PhD research under the same professor\u2019s supervision, said that the Dean refused to forward his PhD file for approval and made casteist remarks questioning his right to study Sanskrit. \u201cShe told me that a Pulayan or Parayan can never master Sanskrit the way a Brahmin does,\u201d he wrote in a detailed social media statement, calling the experience \u201cemotionally devastating and academically humiliating.\u201d<\/p>\n
The scholar said that although his thesis Sadgurusarvasam: A Study was approved by two external examiners appointed by the Vice-Chancellor, the Dean blocked his final viva-voce certification, stating he was \u201cnot qualified to even speak Sanskrit.\u201d Vijayan said he possesses postgraduate degrees in Sanskrit from Sree Sankaracharya University and Kerala University itself.<\/p>\n
He said that caste and political bias motivated the obstruction, noting that he was once a member of the Students\u2019 Federation of India (SFI), while Dr. Vijayakumari is openly aligned with RSS\u2013BJP ideology and a member of a Sangh-affiliated teachers\u2019 body. \u201cIf I am politically biased, why is hers never questioned?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
The scholar argues that the Dean overstepped her authority by withholding his file even after positive evaluation. \u201cWhen three qualified experts have recommended my degree, what moral or legal authority allows her to overrule that?\u201d he questioned.<\/p>\n
Calling the incident a reflection of entrenched casteism in Indian academia, Vijayan said he had remained silent to protect his research dreams but now plans to seek legal recourse. \u201cHer prejudice has destroyed my future. A single signature has undone years of my hard work,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose who claim to uphold the university\u2019s reputation have turned it into a caste fortress. No student from a marginalised background should suffer this kind of abuse again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Similar allegations of caste discrimination in higher education have recently surfaced in universities across India, including Banaras Hindu University and Delhi University, where Dalit scholars reported systematic bias in Sanskrit and classical studies departments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Trivandrum: In yet another troubling case of caste discrimination and academic harassment in Modi\u2019s India, the PhD degree of Dalit research scholar Vipin Vijayan from Kerala University has been withheld by the Dean of the Sanskrit Department, Dr. CN Vijayakumari, despite his fulfillment of all formal academic requirements. According to Kashmir Media Service, Vijayan, who …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":187534,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-187533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-india"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/assests\/2025\/11\/dilit-phd-sc.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187533"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187533\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":187535,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187533\/revisions\/187535"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/187534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}