Skit staged at college fest by students angers Dalit groups for ‘casteist’ remarks

A skit enacted by the students of Jain (Deemed-to-be) University, Bengaluru, has turned controversial for allegedly containing casteist dialogues and “employing a mocking tone” while referring to Dalits. The video clip of the skit has gone viral on social media drawing the ire of Dalit organisations.

While a member of Vanchit Bahujan Yuva Aghadi filed a complaint against it with Nanded police in Maharashtra on Thursday, Dalit organisations in Bengaluru are set to lodge multiple complaints against the students and the institution. Till late on Friday night, representatives of Dalit organisations were at the Siddapura Police Station trying to lodge a complaint.

The skit in question was staged by students of Center for Management Studies (CMS) at Jain University Youth Fest-2023 on February 6.

Dalit leader Mavalli Shankar said the skit made it apparent that its intention was to insult Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and communities that avail reservation. “It shows the casteist mindset of students and the institution that has allowed this to be staged,” he said, adding they plan to stage a protest. Ha.Ra. Mahesh, General Secretary of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Karnataka, said they planned to lodge complaints under The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, on the university management in every district.

While Jain University’s management was not available for comment despite several attempts by The Hindu on Friday, the students who staged the skit, who identify themselves as The Delroys Boys, released a statement on social media in which they apologised for the skit, but claimed the skit was aimed “to bring attention to the challenges faced by the marginalised communities, using humour as a tool to shed light on these hardships.” They said that it had been misinterpreted.