After Rohith Vemula’s suicide, Indian academia received enormous attention from scholars and policymakers, as a space not secluded but implicated in the social inequalities that define India. N Sukumar is one such scholar who has written extensively about the nature that Indian academia acquires as it interacts with the structure of caste.

The book Caste Discrimination and Exclusion in Indian Universities: A Critical Reflection (published by Routledge in 2023) by N Sukumar discusses social dominance in academic settings, emphasising the need to understand the workings of caste and exclusion, discrimination, and reservations in Indian academia. The volume presents rigorously researched and detailed data taken from the interviews conducted with 600 students, 188 females and 412 males from the Scheduled Caste in metropolitan and non-metropolitan cities, five from central and five from state universities across the country. It traces the untold narratives of the suffering of marginalised students. Sukumar persuasively argues how exclusion and discrimination make Dalit students vulnerable in higher education spaces, leading to psychosocial consequences.

The book contains 6 chapters. The first part of the book discusses the historical context of the Indian caste system and demonstrates how it affects various aspects of life in India connecting it with the university spaces. The author here discusses various theories to understand inequalities in higher education settings. The second half of the book brings qualitative and quantitative data to critically reflect on the broader issue of social injustice and structural imbalances.

The book provides a fact sheet in which the author analyses statistical data on Scheduled Castes (SC) representation in higher education institutions. Through the All-India Survey of Higher Education (AISHE), an annual survey conducted by the Ministry of Education since 2010-2011, 2018-2019 and The Right to Information (RTI), he examines the enrollment rate, graduation rate, dropout, proportion of SC students of various states and in various academic disciplines and excavates the factors that contribute to the low enrollment and high dropout of SC students in higher education. By delving into these factors, the author highlights the systemic challenges that hinder Dalit students from accessing higher education opportunities. Further, Sukumar explores the important aspect of affirmative action and how reservation policies impact SC students’ representation in higher education. He critically analyses the limitations and effective outcomes of affirmative actions like reservation and policies that promote educational access for marginalised students. The volume re-examines the role of institutions and their responsibility in fostering an inclusive environment for students. In doing so, he emphasises the importance of sensitising the faculty and staff on social issues and asking for proactive measures to address the unique needs of marginalised students within the higher education system.

He further discusses the idea of the university as an ‘unequal space’ through students’ narratives to explore the significance of physical and social spaces and how these spaces are perpetuating inequality and exclusion for Dalit students. The design of the University and the allocated spaces like classrooms, hostels, laboratories and common areas become a site for differential treatment and exclusion of Dalit students. He discusses ghettoisation on Campus, which perpetuates the social exclusion of Dalit students on campuses and connects it with the unequal distribution of resources-including hostel accommodations, dining and sanitation facilities. For example, students belonging to SC/ST and domicile category were given rooms on the upper floors of the hostel, while those belonging to the general category were given rooms on the ground floor for the first two years (p. 119), on an AIIMS medical students poster warning SC students by saying “Fuck off from this wing” (120), Further, Sukumar talks about everyday surveillance, punitive actions, and humiliation of Dalit students through ridicule and jokes like “Quote se aye ho ya kothe se (Have you come via reservation quota or brothel?)”.

The book also discusses how faculty and administrative staff are biased against Dalit students. This bias is practised by inhibiting Dalit students from availing of scholarships and opportunities. Supervisors give preference to similar caste students in research. There are instances where Dalit women face sexual harassment by supervisors, and even instances of Dalit teachers harassing Dalit students, including sexual harassment (p. 90). The author emphasises how these experiences not only affect Dalit students’ academic performance and self-esteem but also reinforce social hierarchies within educational spaces.

The book encourages a critical reflection on the concept of merit and refers to the recent book by Subramanian (2019) The Caste of Merit, to support his argument. He argues that the dominant understanding of merit in Indian universities is often influenced by caste and social hierarchies and states that “the gatekeepers of academia take refuge in the idea of ‘merit’ to prevent their hegemony from being diluted” (p. 38). He challenges the prevailing myth of merit in Indian universities. By shedding light on epistemic injustices, he highlights that Dalit students must bear the cross of ‘merit’ throughout their life. Even if they attain success in their chosen professions, it is always assumed that the ‘quotas’ have helped them in their socio-economic mobility. He argues that the rigid and narrow definition of merit can overlook the unique talents, experiences, and perspectives that individuals from marginalised castes bring to academia. He suggests that instead of the merit vs non-merit dichotomy, we should recognise the productive vs non-productive dichotomy in our caste system to strive for a more inclusive and equitable educational environment.

Through a combination of empirical evidence and secondary data, the author repeatedly stresses the caste discrimination and humiliation that Dalit students face throughout their education journey. In the last chapter, the author discusses the very important and distressing issue of suicides among Dalit students on Indian campuses. He emphasises that it cannot be viewed as an isolated act of desperation but prods us to critically examine the educational environment, and structural inequalities that contribute to their vulnerabilities. Here, he shares that students coming from multiple marginalisations are further pushed to despair. However, he does not explain how the experience of students differ when it comes to intersecting identity-based marginalisations. 

The book opens up new realms of possibility for our conception of higher education in India. The author’s unique positionality, coupled with his encounters with discrimination as both a teacher and student, as well as the tragic suicides of Dalit students within educational spaces, compelled him to delve into the pressing issue of caste discrimination and exclusion prevalent in Indian universities. The fact that the author hails from the same community adds an important dimension to the discourse, especially in the current time where there is an ongoing debate in Indian academia about who has the right to write about whom. It serves as a timely reminder of Freire’s prophetic proclamation that “pedagogy of the oppressed will be written by the oppressed which will emancipate the oppressor and the oppressed both (p.2)”. While the book focuses on caste discrimination and exclusion in Indian universities, it is important to acknowledge that there are additional nuances that are important to look at.

As a first-generation Dalit woman researcher in this field, I note the significance of examining intersecting forms of discrimination, such as gender, religion, class, sexuality, or ethnicity. These factors, which the author does not develop, play an important role in shaping the experiences of marginalized students. In sharing anecdotes from a range of universities belonging to different regions, Sukumar does not reflect on the differences that might be present in the experiences of students in different regional universities. Connecting these varying experiences with theory could help effectively elucidate the complexities of the Indian academic spaces and their issues, and provide insights that can inform practical solutions or interventions.

The book contributes to the discourse on social justice and educational equality. Sukumar’s meticulous research and empathetic approach enables the readers to gain a deeper understanding of the complexities of caste-based discrimination in higher education institutions. This book is essential reading for policymakers, educators, students, scholars and anyone committed to building a more inclusive society where equal opportunities are afforded to all, regardless of caste or social background.

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Sonu Bagri is a Doctoral candidate at the Department of Social Sciences and Humanities, Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Delhi.