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Row over JNU V-C’s ‘casteist’ remarks: No action taken report or communication received on complaint, ex-JNUSU Dalit president tells NCSC
The reminder reiterates allegations that remarks made by Pandit during a 52-minute podcast published on February 16 had created a hostile atmosphere for Dalit students on campus.
Two complaints had been filed with the commission following protests on the JNU campus over the remarks.
A former president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) on Thursday sent a reminder to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), urging it to act on his complaint accusing JNU Vice-Chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit of allegedly making casteist remarks about Dalits during a podcast interview last month.
Dhananjay, a PhD scholar at JNU and the union’s first Dalit president in nearly two decades when he was elected in 2024, said he has received no communication from NCSC since he filed a complaint against Pandit on February 25 under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
The reminder reiterates allegations that remarks made by Pandit during a 52-minute podcast published on February 16 had created a hostile atmosphere for Dalit students on campus.
The controversy stems from a podcast interview in which Pandit spoke about campus politics, the rustication of JNUSU office-bearers and the implementation of equity regulations. In the interview, she said: “You cannot progress by being permanently a victim or playing the victim card. This was done for the Blacks; the same thing was brought for Dalits here.”
“The applicant herein is a PhD scholar… belonging from the Dalit community,” Dhananjay wrote in the letter addressed to the NCSC chairperson. Referring to Pandit’s remarks, he said the statement “prima facie promotes feeling of hatred and ill will against the people belonging from Dalit and other marginalised community and thus squarely constitutes an offence”.
The Indian Express was the first to report last month that two complaints had been filed with the commission following protests on the JNU campus over the remarks. The second complaint was filed by Suraj Kumar Baudh, the founder of Mission Ambedkar.
In his reminder, Dhananjay said NCSC’s inaction had prolonged anxiety among students from marginalised communities. “Despite the lapse of considerable time from the filing of the said complaint, no action taken report or communication has been received by the applicant till date,” he wrote.
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He added that the issues raised were “grave in nature and pertain to the dignity, safety and constitutional rights of the members of the Scheduled Castes community”.
“The alleged act, being committed by a person holding the office of Vice-Chancellor of a premier Central university, requires urgent consideration and intervention…,” the letter stated.
Dhananjay urged NCSC to take “expeditious cognizance” of the complaint and seek a status report from the concerned authorities. He further requested the commission to recommend “stern disciplinary and legal action,” including the “immediate removal” of the Vice-Chancellor from her position.
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