Pradeep Kumar and Vivek Pandey see protest as the only option to counter the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University's (JNU) alleged discrimination against PhD aspirants from marginalised communities and the introduction of the Central Universities-Common Entrance Test (CUCET).
Kumar and Pandey, both friends and JNU students, are part of a group of students from other universities protesting at the University Grants Commission (UGC) against the alleged prejudice against PhD from Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes, and the introduction of the common entrance test.
"The strange PhD admission process of the university suggests a common pattern in which students from marginalised sections were deliberately given low numbers to stop them from occupying seats in the unreserved categories," Pandey, pursuing PhD in Russian from the School of International Studies, told Newsclick.
The general category can be claimed by any student if he/she gets the minimum marks, Pandey said alleging "but teachers engaged in casteist discussions during the interviews and gave marked accordingly".
"Why should any student be addressed by his surname--for example, 'Pandey Ji'. How uncomfortable a Dalit student would have felt during the interview? Muslim PhD aspirants were asked the reason for not seeking admission to the Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Millia Islamia. Why should such questions be asked in the interview in the first place? Second, the teachers give low marks to such students so that they don't bag seats in the general category. How can a student be given just one mark despite being interviewed for, at least, 20 minutes?" Pandey further alleged.
Kumar, a PhD student at the School of Life Sciences, told Newsclick that the university's "intent is being questioned as it did not allocate a single seat to ST students in 34 courses alone and SCs in 20 courses". "We are protesting at the UGC because it is the regulatory authority and it should ask the JNU the criterion for marking the students."
The slogans at the protest site also show the simmering anger against CUCET. Alok Kumar, a student of linguistics, told the protesters that universities will not only lose their autonomy under the new entrance exam system but students like him aspiring to study in premier institutions won't be able to afford expensive coaching classes.
"The admission policy disregards the struggle of students from deprived backgrounds. There are many first-generation learners and aspirants who overcome severe odds in the pursuit of higher education. Central universities should not be gatekeepers of education, which is everyone's right," Kumar added.
Aishe Ghosh, president, Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union, who talked to Newsclick on the sidelines of the protest, said that the government refuses to learn from the experience of Central exam systems like the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET).
"The NEET experience shows how students go for coaching to crack such entrance exams. We are going to see a plethora of coaching centres coming up with the promise that they can help students crack CUCET. Second, what is more disturbing is that it will deprive universities of their autonomy to decide their curriculum. There is no clarity about the parameters that will be followed in the admission process," Ghosh added.
The "repeated attacks on education and the rights of students are becoming a major challenge for the student community", Ghosh alleged. "The National Education Policy 2020 betrays the very ethos of public-funded education in the country and threatens to widen the gap between students from marginalised communities and others. The viva voce was another instance of the long-standing culture of bias against the disadvantaged," she said.
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