NEW DELHI: After the incident of a teacher slapping a colleague in Delhi University’s Laxmibai College, the Dalit Adivasi Shakti Adhikar Manch (DASAM), along with the ‘victim’ Neelam, alleged on Thursday that teacher-in-charge Ranjit Kaur slapped her as she belongs to the Schedule Caste (SC) cummunity.
“The incident took place during a meeting in the college on Monday when Kaur, an associate professor, slapped Neelam after she asked for a little time to go through the minutes of the meeting. There were 13 teachers at the meeting and saw this incident,” DASAM said.
Neelam alleged that Kaur has been plotting against her since her appointment and brainwashing the students against her. She (Neelam) also alleged that after the incident, she met the college principal and submitted a written complaint, but the college did not enter her complaint in the diary. She also filed a complaint at Bharat Nagar police station.
Neelam alleged that police are siding with the “accused” and did not register the FIR under provision of SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. “The police authorities had given an assurance to file the complaint on August 18, but it hasn’t been registered yet,” said DASAM. It further alleged that the college authorities are harassing Neelam to withdraw the case and have issued a show-cause notice to her.
Professor Kanchan (Department of Education, Central Institute of Education, DU) condemned the incident and said that it was shameful that even today, incidents of caste atrocities are taking place in higher educational institutions. Ena Zafar (National Coordinator, Dalit Adivasi Shakti Adhikar), said, “We celebrated the 75th Independence Day but are still not free from caste prejudice.”
When asked, college principal Pratyusha, said, “I met Neelam and listened to her complaint on the day the incident took place. I have called a meeting of SC/ST cell and a governing body meeting will take place on August 21.”