After three and a half years, the University of Hyderabad (UoH) — or HCU, as it is commonly referred to by students — will see a student-body election on campus on Friday, 24 February.
And, for the first time in the university’s history, two Dalit queer people are contesting in the election.
One of them, Prajwal Gaikwad, is vying for the post of president, and Dalit transgender woman Hritik Laxman Lalan is eyeing the membership of the Internal Complaints Committee (Gender Sensitisation- Committee Against Sexual Harassment) — ICC (GSCASH) — postgraduate position.
Both candidates are representing the ASA-DSU-SFI alliance and belong to Ambedkar Student Association (ASA).
For Gaikwad, a PhD scholar, the main agenda is to help the student navigate alleged administrative lapses with dignity.
“In the month of February, four suicide took place at premium institutions. This reflects caste hatred incited by the Central government in the higher institutions, which have been radicalised, and students from marginalised communities have been at the receiving end,” he said.
“In an institution like UoH, affirmative action like fellowship is not given on time due to administrative lapses, and this is against the dignity of marginalised students. That’s what we want to bring to the table: That the administration should function properly and students should get fellowships without any bureaucratic hurdles,” said Prajwal to South First.
He added that he would fight against the Central government policy of centralising the PhD examination. He demanded that the reservation policy in student admissions to the university be implemented properly.
He also said that the university had a regressive mechanism when it came to addressing caste and sexual harassment.
“Members of these committees are appointed by the administration, which does not resolve the issues or bring justice, but instead the members rule in favour of the administration. We want to get justice in these cases,” said Gaikwad.
As the first Dalit queer candidate in the university, he has had several allegations levelled against him.
After his candidature was announced, a Facebook post was circulated amongst students targeting his gender identity.
“The queerphobic narrative against me was circulated in WhatsApp groups and all 3,000 university email ids by dropouts. Messages against my identity were forwarded through non-Indian mobile numbers. All these are baseless accusations, aimed at tarnishing my image in public,” said Gaikwad.
“My nomination is historic in the community. When Dalits are assertive in such places, such allegations and humiliations seem to be the norm,” said Gaikwad.
A transwoman for GSCASH
Hritik Laxman Lalan is the first Dalit transgender woman standing aiming for membership in ICC-GSCASH.
“My candidature as the first Dalit transgender woman in ICC-GSCASH is historic in itself. It also reflects the commitment of the ASA and allied organisations for social justice, ensuring social democracy through representation,” Hritik Laxman Lalan told South First.
She added that it also gives a new kind of framework to queer politics to articulate queer politics in terms of self-respect and dignity rather than just pride.
“A transgender person has not been in any panel in the university. As a Dalit trans person, I want to contribute to the movement of intersectionality,” she said.
She added that Ambedkrite politics represented and embraced intersectionality, and has always tried to represent queer politics.
From movies to literature, it has emphasised dialogue with people who live on the periphery.
“My agenda is to protect the institute of GSCASH, and to strengthen it as a GSCASH representative. I will make sure that various cells for marginalised students coordinate with GSCASH, so they may facilitate each other,” she said.
Also read: Why HCU students want ICC dumped and GSCASH back
UoH: A political hemisphere
The University of Hyderabad, which was established in 1974 in the backdrop of the Telangana movement, has a very liberal setup with multiple student political organisations standing for the different electoral posts on campus.
There are six main panels on which every student is going to vote. There are also three ICC(GSCASH) posts — integrated, postgraduate, and research scholar — for which students from respective streams can vote.
Apart from this, there are board members and councillors at each school level. A total of 148 candidates are contesting in the election.
Major political organisations, such as the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the Student Federation of India (SFI), the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), the Muslim Students Federation (MSF), and the All India Students Association (AISA), are part of the electoral process on campus.
Apart from these, students bodies like the Ambedkar Students Association (ASA), the Dalit Students Union (DSU), the OBC Federation (OBCF), the Sevalal Vidyarthi Dal (SVD), the Bahujan Students Front (BSF), the Fraternity Movement, the Tribal Student Forum (TSF), and the Youth For Inclusive and Sustainable Society (YISS) are also in the fray.
Many of these organisations are forming alliances to contest the election.
There are three alliances as of now. The first is the ASA-DSU-SFI, the second is the ABVP-OBCF-Sevalal Dal, and the third is the BSF-Fraternity Movement-MSF-NSUI-TSF, which refers to itself as the Alliance for Social Democracy. The YISS and the AISA are contesting on their own.
Alliance for Social Democracy
Mohammed Muhsin, the Alliance for Social Democracy presidential candidate, said that he was fighting the Hindutva forces of the ABVP-OBCF-Sevalal Dal on one side and the ASA-DSU-SFI front on the other, neither of which were ready to have any Muslim representation.
“On one side, we are victims of fascist forces, and on the other side, the alliance that claims to be anti-fascist is excluding us. So, there is a need to uphold social democracy and inclusiveness on campus. That is why we have come up with an alliance for social democracy,” Muhsin told South First.
He said that the alliance’s idea was to have a larger front where all the secular and anti-fascist forces fight against fascism.
He added: “Our front is more inclusive than the other two fronts. We believe in representation from each one of them, especially those who are excluded.”
On the allegation of not having a single representation of Muslim candidates in their panel, Gaikwad said that six candidates from his front were from the SC community, one from OBC, one was Christian, and one was tribal.
“Given the instances of communal disharmony happening in the country, we are witnessing that Dalits are coming to the forefront to ensure that Muslims are safeguarded. We come with the legacy of Rohith Vemula,” said Gaikwad.
Meanwhile, Muhsin also alleged that ABVP students had asked him to go to Pakistan and even chanted “Goli Maro Salo Ko” in public places against his front.
South First tried to speak to ABVP presidential candidate Bala Krishna, but he was not available to speak due to his busy schedule.
A hurried election
Meanwhile, students are angry with the university for conducting the election in a hurried manner.
Gaikwad said that the University General Body Meeting (UGBM), which was being conducted to dissolve the previous student union, was conducted even before the bills were settled with the administration.
“And then, the ABVP violently disrupted the UGBM, due to which — for the first time in the history of UoH — the meeting did not take place,” he said.
“In another meeting with students’ organisations, when the dates of the election were discussed, all the organisations asked for a date that would be suitable for all the students, as many of them were not on campus. Only the ABVP broke with them and agreed upon the date of the election proposed by the university, and that was the date which came to be finalised. The election was forced upon us,” said Gaikwad.
Also, the presidential debates, which used to take place in an auditorium, were conducted online on 22 February.
It should be mentioned that the university doesn’t recognise political organisations, and that’s why only the candidates’ names are mentioned on the polling ballot, and not the party’s symbol or name.
The last election happened in September 2019, in which the ASA-DSU-SFI-TSF coalition won every seat.
SFI candidate Abhishek Nandan won the presidential seat by over 1,000 votes against ABVP candidate Phani Krishna.
Due to the pandemic, the election did not take place for the last three and a half years.
