New Delhi: Twenty-six-year-old Sudeepto Das, a Bangladeshi PhD student at South Asian University, New Delhi, has been expelled for “serious misconduct.” The trigger was a scuffle between the students eating non-veg food and ABVP during Maha Shivaratri on 26 February this year.
During the chaos, Das “intervened” when a group of ABVP members allegedly assaulted a female student who objected to their demand for the removal of non-vegetarian food from the university mess during the festival. The letter from SAU came five months later, while the university was closed for vacations. The scholar, who has since returned to Dhaka, said the university is singling him out.
“I got trapped between ideologies in India,” Das told ThePrint over the phone. “The treatment I have received at the university suggests an unspoken expectation—that I will quietly comply. As a Bangladeshi and a foreign student, I am in an especially vulnerable position.”
Das sent a letter of regret to the university in July (when he received the expulsion notice), followed by an “unconditional apology” on 14 August, hoping to resolve the matter without being forced to take legal action. But he is yet to receive a response.
“This is institutional harassment,” he said. “But I do not want to waste years of hard work that I have put into my research.”
In February, a row broke out in the university mess over non-vegetarian food, which members of the ABVP—the student wing of the RSS—alleged was being used to “abuse and attack them” for observing their faith. In the ensuing ruckus, several students were assaulted. Even the SFI—the student wing of the CPI(M)—got involved.
“When I saw a female student, the elected Mess Secretary, surrounded and physically intimidated while trying to defend food meant for everyone, I intervened,” Das said. “My action was an instinctive response to protect a fellow human being from clear aggression.”
He added that the university hadn’t made any announcements regarding the serving of non-veg food in the mess. “If there was any official intimation, I would not have gone. I would not have involved myself in RSS-BJP food politics,” he said.
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Outspoken and assertive
Das came to India in 2009. After finishing his schooling at Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith in Deoghar, Jharkhand, he enrolled in Delhi University’s Shri Ram College of Commerce. He was a part of the theatre society, where he participated in street acts on various political issues.
“My exposure to India made me feel I can speak my mind,” said Das. And that is what he has done since the time he joined SAU as a master’s student. He remained expressive and assertive about his opinions.
In 2019, he started his course in Economics, and soon after that, the Covid-19 pandemic broke out. That was when Das started participating in the university’s public life. He voiced his opinion against the administration’s role in handling the Covid-19 crisis. He, along with his friends, crowdfunded money and helped people buy oxygen metres, tanks, masks, crucial medicines, and other life-saving resources. “The administration was more focused on vacating the hostel,” Das said.
He has been awarded the SAARC Silver Jubilee Scholarship from the Government of India for his PhD, owing to his academic performance during his post-graduation.
“I was never a troublemaker, rather a diligent student who has been trying his best to become a better person,” he said.
In October 2022, he stood in solidarity with students who were doing a sit-in protest demanding an increase in Master’s and PhD scholarships. He was suspended with a few others and had to pay a fine of Rs 500. He had a palpable presence in the university.
Last year in March, Ratan Singh, a prime accused in the 26 February incident and PhD student at SAU, sent a message to the student WhatsApp group saying that international students should not get involved in politics and religious issues of India.
In the following months, after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government and the protests against the alleged killings of Hindus in Bangladesh, Singh and members of the ABVP organised protests on the campus.
Das claimed that the gang was making factually wrong statements about the status of Hindus in Bangladesh at the gathering. When pointed out by Das, there was a verbal spat between them.
“I know I am not allowed to speak against the Indian government. But I can express my views about what’s wrong,” he said. “ Covid or eating fish are not a political issue, and when it comes to Bangladesh, it is my country, I know my rights as a citizen.”
Das’s parents back at home are supporting him in his journey. They, too, are surprised by the uncalled action taken by the university.
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)
If he had been in any of the streams of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, he wouldn’t have got into this mess. Most of the times, students of arts are the usual suspects. Commerce including economics getting into trouble is unusual.