Dear friends,
Please read the story of Dr Ajay appeared in Tehelka. He is fighting against
casteism against Dalit doctors and students prevelant in AIIMS, New Delhi.
Casteism and discrimination against Dalit stundents in AIIMS is not a new
story. But Ajay's fight and assertion against the faculty and director dr.
venugopal is really going to change the equations. We, the members of
INSIGHT FOUNDATION met Dr Ajay personally and discussed.
Why can't the so called civil soceity come forward and support Dr Ajay and
his fight to end casteism in AIIMS campus.
Why can't bujis come forward and raise voice in Dalit issues? Why this
'untouchability'?
Please join the campaign....
ranjit
*PERSONAL HISTORIES*
*�EVEN IF I NEVER BECOME A DOCTOR, I WILL NOT GIVE UP THIS FIGHT�*
*AJAY KUMAR SINGH* *Born in 1982. Grew up in Etah in Uttar Pradesh. Gained
admission in 2002 at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. Is in his
MBBS final year*
I was in Class viii when I first heard about AIIMS, the All India Institute
of Medical Sciences. My mother was a nurse, and the doctor she worked with
in Etah, my hometown, had a nephew at AIIMS. He visited Etah once, and my
mother was very keen that I meet him. �You need to read a lot if you want to
go to AIIMS,� he said. That�s when I told myself I�d study there somehow,
someday.
*Uzma Mohsin*
*The harassment peaked during the anti-reservation protests of 2006.
They were always trying to start fights so they could bash us up. Derogatory
remarks were common: �Yeh chamar log kya karenge?�*
My father, who drives an autorickshaw, wouldn�t have been able to send me to
Delhi for coaching had it not been for my Physics teacher who helped me get
a concession on the fees. I got into AIIMS with 66.16 percent, the same as
the �General� cut-off that year. Nirpat Singh, the autodriver, and Munni
Devi , the nurse, were very proud of their son. It was a big moment for all
of us when we entered the campus of India�s premier medical sciences
college.
As soon as my parents left, I was summoned by my neighbour, a senior, who
asked me to introduce myself. Among other things, I told him I had stood
first on the Scheduled Caste list. The next moment I found myself outside
the room, on the ground; he had pushed me out. That was just the first day.
The next time he tried to insult me, I told him I�d complain. While he never
spoke to me as long as he was on campus, he told his friends about the
incident and they boycotted me too.
Ever since, I have been reminded of my �low� status every moment I have been
here. I was the only �Category� student in my wing. One day, I found this on
my door: �Nobody likes you here. F**k off.� On another day: �Everybody can
use the carom board, but not Room No 45.� People would bang and kick at my
door at all hours, disappearing by the time I opened it. They tried their
best to make me leave, but I told myself I wouldn�t, no matter what. I
gradually isolated myself from them, and started interacting only with
others from the �Category�.
I had been to school at the Navodaya Vidyalaya for seven years, and I knew
about casteism from my experience there, but it was nothing compared to
AIIMS. In school, I used to think I wouldn�t have to go through the same
humiliations if I were at a big institution. I came to the biggest of them
all, but in vain. At least we would eat together at Navodaya.
It is true that not all General Category students are casteist, but caste
cuts through everything at AIIMS. They won�t talk to us. We have no
representation in the students� union this year. They won�t let us play
cricket; in a basket ball match, they won�t pass us the ball once. The
hatred was out in the open in 2003, during Pulse (AIIMS� annual medical
college festival). They beat up a Dalit student so badly that it was a
miracle he survived. We went to complain, but the administration was ready
only to dismiss both parties: those who attacked and those who were
attacked. Having been beaten up, he didn�t want to go through that, so he
withdrew.
The harassment reached a high during the anti-reservation protests of 2006.
There were more than a thousand outsiders staying on campus during those
days. They slept in our hostels and ate in our messes. Derogatory remarks
were common: �Yeh chamar log kya karenge?� They were always trying to start
fights so they could bash us up. They even made plans to beat up a few
resident doctors. There was no point complaining. Nobody was willing to
listen. The media chose to portray last year�s events as if everyone at
AIIMS � scs, sts and obcs included � was against reservation. �Category�
juniors were dragged out during ragging and forced to participate in the
protests; in many of these, they came under baton charges from the police. I
could see them going through trauma; I took the initiative and told the
director that ragging was being prolonged even after the stipulated time.
Nothing happened. They also beat up our gym secretary, a �Category� student.
That got all of us very upset. Pushed to the wall, we decided to submit a
memorandum. The director, Dr P. Venugopal, promised to act within 24 hours �
and he did. All the people we named were informed, and all of them came to
each one of us and threatened us with dire consequences if we did not
withdraw the complaint. We didn�t; instead we wrote another, this time to
the President of AIIMS. There was no response. Then we went to the media.
We were accused of obstructing Pulse 2006. They did that to malign us and
turn student sentiment against us. We put up posters clarifying our stand �
we had nothing against Pulse, we just wanted the harassment stopped. During
Pulse, a cd was circulated with a film showing the burning of books written
by Babasaheb Ambedkar. I called a press conference against the film; I
didn�t get much support. An enquiry committee was appointed, and they asked
me why I was out to tarnish AIIMS� reputation. I told them I had no choice
when no help was forthcoming.
Never before had a �Category� student raised his voice this way.
They decided to teach me a lesson, and send out a message to all the
�Category� students of the campus. They failed me in my final professional
exam, which was in December. If I fail three times, I will be disqualified.
My re-examination was video-recorded � though it is unheard-of, I wouldn�t
have had any problem had they informed me beforehand. I wrote another
complaint to the director about this illegal recording. A day before the
results were due, my result was leaked. Posters were pasted all over campus
declaring that the student who had complained and called the press
conference had failed. I filed a police complaint. We held a series of
protests, as a result of which the Centre formed a committee headed by the
University Grants Commission chairman Sukhdeo Thorat, to look into the
matter. The AIIMS director did not even allocate it a room, and the hearings
happened off-campus. I gathered everyone and we went to depose in groups.
I knew I would fail when the only question I was asked on my viva was: �What
is your involvement with the Thorat report?� Six or seven students had
scored lower in the internal marks than I � all passed, I did not. I was
failed in medicine in my re-professional exam by one-and-a-half marks. We
later got to know that the faculty association had passed a resolution two
days before the vivas that no one would take my re-examination viva. And the
director still hasn�t accepted the governing body�s order to grant me
re-examination with a new set of examiners.
All this is being done to scare my juniors. My case will be an example,
since I am in my final year.
I had an opportunity recently for an internship at the University of
Penn-sylvania. AIIMS couldn�t do anything about it, so they got in touch
with their seniors there, who, as I have heard, assured them they would �set
me right�.
If I am not destined to be a doctor, I won�t be. But I will not give up this
fight. Even if I never become a doctor, I have a great satisfaction already.
No voices were heard in the past. Now people are willing to come to protest.
There are 45 �Category� boys at AIIMS, and whenever there is a protest, at
least 40 of them turn up.
Though my father is an auto driver, people respect him in my hometown. My
parents have taught me to safeguard my dignity at all costs, and that�s what
I am doing now. Though it was not easy, I don�t feel it has been all that
tough either.
*As told to Praveen Donthi*
--
Ranjit
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