THE ASIAN INDEPENDENT UK
Bal Ram Sampla
Geopolitics
Imagine going to university and being told your admission was a “mistake,” that you don’t belong there, that you only got in because of “reservation.” Imagine your teachers questioning your intelligence in front of the whole class, your hostel mates refusing to sit with you in the mess hall, your grant/ stipend suddenly being stopped for unclear reasons. Imagine facing this every single day until you feel so crushed, so alone, so worthless that you see no way out except death.
This isn’t imagination. This is what happened to Rohith Vemula, a PhD student at the University of Hyderabad. In 2016, he died by suicide after being expelled from his hostel and having his scholarship stopped. His last note said: “My birth is my fatal accident.”
This is what happened to Payal Tadvi, a 26-year-old medical student in 2019. Three senior doctors, all from upper castes, tortured and humiliated her every day until she too took her own life.
Between 2019 and 2021 alone, 98 students from Dalit, Bahujan, and Adivasi communities died by suicide in India’s top universities – IITs, NITs, IIMs, and central universities.
These are not isolated incidents. They are a pattern. And they continue today.
What the Government Tried to Do
After Rohith and Payal’s deaths, their mothers went to court. They said: “The system failed our children. Other children are dying. Please do something.”
The Supreme Court agreed in 2019. They told the government: “Create a strong and robust mechanism to protect students from caste discrimination.”
So in January 2026, the government created new rules called the UGC (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2026. These rules would have:
1. Made every university create Equal Opportunity Centres:
places where students could complain about discrimination
2. Created Equity Committees:
with people from SC/ST/OBC communities to handle complaints
3. Made universities accountable:
they had to report every year about discrimination cases
4. Clearly defined caste discrimination: as the specific, systematic humiliation that SC/ST/OBC students face
These were not radical ideas. They were basic protections – the kind any workplace or institution should have.
What Upper Castes Objected To
The rules said: “Caste discrimination means discrimination against members of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes.”
Upper caste students and their organizations protested. They said:
(1) “What if we face discrimination? Who will protect us?”
(2) “This definition is one-sided”
(3)”This rule will divide society”
(4)”Upper caste students could be falsely accused”
After their protests, many distributed sweets and celebrated when the Supreme Court stopped these rules.
What the Supreme Court Did
On January 29, 2026, the Supreme Court stayed (temporarily stopped) these new rules. The bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymala Bagchi said the rules were:
(1) “Vague and capable of misuse”
(2) “Dividing society rather than uniting it”
(3)”Regressive” and potentially “dangerous”
Most revealingly, the court asked:
“Are we going backwards from whatever we gained in terms of achieving a casteless society?”
They sent the rules back for “revision” and reactivated the old 2012 rules – the exact same rules that were in place when Rohith Vemula and Payal Tadvi died.
Why This is a Massive Failure
1. The Court is Living in Fantasy
The court believes India has achieved, or nearly achieved, a “casteless society.” But:
-(1)Caste discrimination complaints in universities jumped 118% from 2019-20 to 2023-24
(2)Nearly 100 students from marginalized communities died by suicide in just three years (2019-2021)
(3)Most universities under the 2012 rules claimed they received ZERO complaints of caste discrimination (which tells you the system didn’t work, not that discrimination didn’t exist)
2. They Treat Caste Like Any Other Problem
The court asked: “Why do we need a separate definition for caste discrimination when general discrimination covers everything?”
This is like asking: “Why do we need special laws against domestic violence when regular assault laws exist?” or “Why do we need laws against child abuse when we have laws against violence?”
Because caste operates differently. It is:
(1) Historically entrenched
(2) Religiously justified (in sacred texts)
(3) Socially enforced (in every village, every institution)
(4) Invisible to those who don’t face it (upper castes often don’t even see it happening)
When a Dalit student’s intelligence is questioned or they are socially boycotted in the mess hall, it’s not “general discrimination” – it’s a specific assault on their dignity based on the belief that they are inherently inferior because of their birth.
3. They Worry About “Misuse” While Students Die
The court worried the rules could be “misused” against upper caste students.
But what about the systematic suicide of Dalit students – isn’t that a “misuse” of institutional power? What about professors who harass reserved category students with no accountability – isn’t that a “misuse” of authority?
The rules had mechanisms, complaint procedures, committees. But the court was more worried about hypothetical false accusations than actual ongoing deaths.
4. They’re Protecting Upper Caste Comfort Over Student Lives
By staying these rules, the court chose:
(1) The feelings of upper caste students who might feel “accused”
(2) Over the lives of Dalit students who are actually dying
(3) An imaginary “casteless society”
(4) Over the very caste-marked reality of Indian universities
Is This Caste Bias in the Court?
Here’s an uncomfortable truth: The Supreme Court itself lacks diversity.
According to information tabled in Parliament, of 715 HIgh Court judges appointed between 2018 and March 2025, only 22 belong to Scheduled Caste (SC) category which is roughly 3%.
(Googled 29th January 2026)
Studies show that throughout history, Brahmins have dominated the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, SC/ST/OBC communities – who make up over 70% of India’s population – have minimal representation in the courts deciding their fate.
A 2013 National Commission of Scheduled Castes report suggested that the higher judiciary composition is influenced by ” age-olf social prejudices”
Does this affect their judgment?
But when you’ve never experienced caste discrimination, when you come from communities that have historically held power, it becomes very easy to:
(1) Believe caste doesn’t exist anymore
(2) See protections for Dalits as “special privileges”
(3) Worry about “reverse discrimination”
(4) Think naming caste is what creates division, not caste itself
This is structural blindness. It is the inability to see what you have never lived.
What This Means for Dalit Students Right Now
With the Supreme Court’s stay:
1.They are back under the 2012 framework:
the same framework that was in place when nearly 100 students died
2. No mandatory complaint system: universities can continue without proper structures
3. No accountability:
universities don’t have to report or address discrimination
4. The violence continues:
being ignored, being humiliated, having their merit questioned, being socially isolated, all while being told that complaining about caste creates division
As one analyst wrote: Dalit students are now being asked to choose between their education and their dignity, between survival and silence.
The Bitter Truth
The Supreme Court, seven years ago, ordered the government to create “strong and robust mechanisms” to protect students after Vemula and Tadvi’s deaths.
The government finally created those mechanisms in 2026.
The Supreme Court then stayed those mechanisms as potentially divisive.
Meanwhile, Dalit students continue to die. And the courts continue to prioritize an idea of equality that doesn’t exist over the protection of students who desperately need it.
This is not justice. This is institutional failure.
When the law refuses to name oppression, it protects oppressors. When courts treat structural violence as “just another form of discrimination,” they ensure that violence continues.
And when judges who have never faced caste discrimination decide that protections against it are “divisive,” they make a choice – whether they realize it or not – about whose lives matter and whose deaths can be ignored.
The question isn’t whether the Supreme Court has failed Dalit students. The answer to that is painfully clear.
The question is: How many more students have to die before that failure is acknowledged?
References
1.https://www.barandbench.com/columns/disproportionate-representation-supreme-court-caste-and-religion-of-judges
2.https://theprint.in/judiciary/new-ugc-rules-on-hold-why-supreme-court-believes-they-are-regressive-can-deepen-caste-divisions/2839882/
3.https://m.thewire.in/article/caste/what-did-the-supreme-court-say-when-staying-the-new-2026-ugc-equity-regulations/amp?utm=relatedarticles
4.https://lawchakra.in/legal-updates/cji-b-r-gavai-high-court-appoint-social/?amp=1
5.https://m.thewire.in/article/caste/what-did-the-supreme-court-say-when-staying-the-new-2026-ugc-equity-regulations/amp?utm=relatedarticles
6.https://zeenews.india.com/india/ugc-equity-rules-explained-what-2026-regulations-said-and-why-supreme-court-put-them-on-hold-3011621.html
