Can Understand Rohith Vemula’s Agony, Says AUSU’s Richa Singh

Richa Singh, students’ union president of Allahabad University is claiming mental harassment by college authorities.

While unrest at JNU seems to have subsided to some extent with the release of JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar, a controversy at another varsity is threatening to boil over.

Allahabad University, which was known as the ‘Oxford of the East’ at one point of time, is witnessing a clash between its first woman students’ union president, Richa Singh and the university administration.

After a complaint was filed against Richa Singh, questioning her admission as a research scholar in 2014, stating that the seat allotted to Richa was meant for an OBC candidate, the Vice Chancellor had initiated an inquiry into the matter. Singh claims that the probe is politically motivated as she is the only non-ABVP member in the union and has had several arguments with fellow ABVP members earlier as well.

Speaking to The Quint, Richa says, “This issue is politically motivated, university has not been supportive ever since I’ve been elected.”

This issue is politically motivated. The university has not been supportive ever since I’ve been elected.

Richa Singh, AUSU President to The Quint

Singh says it is the socially relevant issues she has been raising her voice against, that are irking her detractors.

We’ve been raising our voice over gender-related and other issues and the university administration wants to hush us. They are trying to expel me because they don’t want me to work in the campus

Richa Singh, AUSU President to The Quint

She has hit out at her adversaries whom she claims have harassed her in the past as well.

We are not allowing saffronisation to take over the campus and that’s why all this is being done to harass me mentally.

Richa Singh, AUSU President to The Quint

The University’s Stand

While the Vice-Chancellor of the Allahabad University, RL Hangloo is yet to take a call on the status of the complaint against Richa Singh, university’s PRO, KN Uttam admits fault in the admission process. “Reservation policy has not been followed. Report has been submitted to the V-C who would decide future course of action.” Justifying the inquiry against Richa, Mr Uttam says, “If someone has filed a complaint it will have to be probed.” He further says, “The anomaly in admission process has been pointed out. If there is any proof of malafide intention, action will be taken against the concerned person.”

At the heart of the matter is the ‘Roster principle of reservation’ being followed by the university. There were a total of two seats available at the time of admission for a D.Phil in Globalisation and Development Studies at the Faculty of Arts. While one seat should have been alloted to a candidate from the general category, the other seat was meant for an OBC candidate. What happened during the admission process was that both seats were allotted to candidates from the general category, one of whom was Richa Singh. Thus, the mandate regarding the OBC quota could not be fulfilled.

– A 2009 Allahabad High Court judgement, had tried explaining it when the roster principle will not be applicable – “We may clarify that the roster loses its capability of application where the rule of reservation itself cannot be pressed into service keeping in view the numerical strength of the cadre in such matters as in the present case which is less than five. To do so would be a miscalculation in raw mathematics and the fine tenets of law. The argument of the state – if accepted – would result in unconstitutionality and an illogical acceptance of the rule of reservation.”

In other words, roster principle loses its relevance when the number of candidates is less than five which was the case with Richa Singh.

Locking Horns with University Authorities

But this is not an isolated instance of confrontation between AUSU president and the university authorities. In November last year, Richa Singh was in news when she had tried stalling an event in which BJP MP Yogi Adityanath was invited as a guest. Singh claims that she was threatened in front of the V-C but no action was taken against the culprits.

Then on 20 January, this year Richa Singh was in the eye of a storm yet again when senior journalist, Siddharth Varadarajan had to be escorted out after some students protested against him speaking at an event inside the campus. Vardarajan had been invited by Richa who blames college authorities for hampering an academic program.

Another JNU In the Offing?

Another “students’ union president versus university” fracas doesn’t seem to end any time soon with Richa Singh shooting off letters to the HRD Ministry and even the President of India, seeking their help. “This is aimed at demoralising so that girls don’t dare to contest polls and this is an attempt to tarnish my resume. I was in depression for two days and could understand what Rohith must have gone through. A student is scared when a question mark is put on his career,” says Richa on the issue of growing unrest in campuses across the country.

Though she won as an independent, she was backed by the student wing of the Samajwadi Party. While one Facebook page adorns a picture of Richa with state chief minister, Akhilesh Yadav, another page with around 1500 followers has a picture of Richa Singh attending an event in Delhi with the Left leader, Shubhashini Ali.

The strongly opinionated yet soft-spoken student union leader justifies it by saying, “Politicisation of academic centres may be wrong but what is wrong in youth trying to make themselves aware of political ideology and trying to make a distinction between what is right and wrong?”