Following reports that students at a private educational institution staged a skit allegedly insulting BR Ambedkar and the Scheduled Caste community on 8 February 2023, Karnataka Higher Education Minister CN Ashwath Narayan has ordered an investigation and sought a detailed report.
The development comes despite the fact that police have filed a FIR. Police have charged the principal of the Jain deemed-to-be university, the dean, the event organisers, and the student performers under IPC section 153A and the SC and ST (prevention of atrocities) Act, 1989, in response to a complaint filed by the social welfare department.
On 6 February 2023, Jain Deemed to be University hosted its college fest Samyog- Jain University Youth Fest. One of the Samyog events was “Mad Ads,” an event to advertise imaginary products along the lines of humor along with playfully making fun of other colleges participating in the same.
‘The Delroys Boys,’ a theatre group from Jain University’s CMS, performed the skit. The performance featured a lower-caste man attempting to date an upper-caste woman. To allegedly spark humour, the makers renamed BR Ambedkar “Beer Ambedkar” and used several problematic phrases such as “Why be Dalit when you can be D-Lit.”
It should be noted that the performance script went through several rounds of approval before being enacted on stage. The same insensitive script was performed by the same contingent on February 5th at another college fest sponsored by Under25 in Bengaluru.
The video of the college skit has gone viral on social media platforms. The offensive behavior displayed during the “Mad advertising” competition has been condemned by Dalit organizations.
On February 11, 2023, Bengaluru police tweeted, “FIR (CR No 0032/2023) has been registered under the SC & ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 at Siddapura PS. Further investigation is underway.”
FIR (CR No 0032/2023) has been registered under the SC & ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 at Siddapura PS.
Further investigation is underway. https://t.co/KWyFgmyuob
— ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು ನಗರ ಪೊಲೀಸ್ BengaluruCityPolice (@BlrCityPolice) February 11, 2023
Several people were found protesting outside the CMS campus of Jain University. Police have gathered around the location. A complaint has also been made against this skit performance by a Dalit activist from Mumbai.
Dalit organisations in Karnataka and Maharashtra have condemned the disrespectful references to Ambedkar and the jabs at the scheduled castes, calling them an insult to the entire community.
In this case, all six students involved in the incident were suspended.
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