TRIVANDRUM: In yet another troubling case of caste discrimination and academic harassment in Modi’s India, the PhD degree of Dalit research scholar Vipin Vijayan from Kerala University has been withheld by the Dean of the Sanskrit Department, Dr. CN Vijayakumari, despite his fulfillment of all formal academic requirements.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Vijayan, who completed his M.Phil and PhD research under the same professor’s supervision, said that the Dean refused to forward his PhD file for approval and made casteist remarks questioning his right to study Sanskrit. “She told me that a Pulayan or Parayan can never master Sanskrit the way a Brahmin does,” he wrote in a detailed social media statement, calling the experience “emotionally devastating and academically humiliating.”
The scholar said that although his thesis Sadgurusarvasam: A Study was approved by two external examiners appointed by the Vice-Chancellor, the Dean blocked his final viva-voce certification, stating he was “not qualified to even speak Sanskrit.” Vijayan said he possesses postgraduate degrees in Sanskrit from Sree Sankaracharya University and Kerala University itself.
He said that caste and political bias motivated the obstruction, noting that he was once a member of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), while Dr. Vijayakumari is openly aligned with RSS–BJP ideology and a member of a Sangh-affiliated teachers’ body. “If I am politically biased, why is hers never questioned?” he asked.
The scholar argues that the Dean overstepped her authority by withholding his file even after positive evaluation. “When three qualified experts have recommended my degree, what moral or legal authority allows her to overrule that?” he questioned.
Calling the incident a reflection of entrenched casteism in Indian academia, Vijayan said he had remained silent to protect his research dreams but now plans to seek legal recourse. “Her prejudice has destroyed my future. A single signature has undone years of my hard work,” he said.
“Those who claim to uphold the university’s reputation have turned it into a caste fortress. No student from a marginalised background should suffer this kind of abuse again,” he said.
Similar allegations of caste discrimination in higher education have recently surfaced in universities across India, including Banaras Hindu University and Delhi University, where Dalit scholars reported systematic bias in Sanskrit and classical studies departments.
