The caste discrimination in the campuses is again in news following the death of 18-year-old Dalit student at IIT Bombay, who died allegedly by suicide. The family had alleged that Darshan Solanki was ostracized by his friends because of his caste. While authorities at IIT Bombay have said there was no discrimination on the campus, the family claimed he did face persecution. His death reminds everyone of Rohit Vermula, PhD scholar who died by suicide in 2016 at Hyderabad University due to caste discrimination.
There are so many such cases of caste and religious discrimination from various campuses of the country. Many of these cases go unreported in the media. Even in this 21st century the caste and religious discrimination continues to prevail in the campuses of the educational institutions. What is shocking is that it is happening in the premier technical institute of the country like IIT. If it can take place in a modern institute like IIT imagine what must be the condition in other lesser known educational institutes. The IIT Bombay authorities should not outrightly dismiss the claims of the family of late Darshan Solanki. There should be proper investigation into the allegation. Also, the government of India as well as state governments needs to do more to make campuses safe and secure for the students belonging to scheduled caste, scheduled tribe and minorities.