‘Silence on Caste’: Ambedkarite students talk about confronting caste in US universities

"Indians here feel like caste does not exist only. We have to put in our labour to explain everything about our identity and India's social reality time and again. Sometimes it can evoke an encouraging response and sometimes it can also create problems for us here," says Vikas Tatad, an Indian Ambedkarite studying International Comparative Education at Columbia University in the United States of America (USA).

Tatad and fellow Ambedkarite students are trying to enlighten others. Within the three months of his time in Columbia so far, he organised an event for Dr Ambedkar's birth anniversary celebrations on April 14. The event garnered attention across groups of Ambedkarite academics and activists in India and international universities. With over 200 registrations, the event, Tatad says, was able to generate curiousity about Dr Ambedkar and about caste in general among students and professors, who knew little about the leader and his work.

Still, change is slow. Neil (name changed on request), who is pursuing PhD at the School of Global Inclusion and Social Development at Boston University and identifies himself as an Ambedkarite, says, "My permanent observation is that there is complete silence on caste here. So much so that many a times there are efforts to subdue our events of celebration also such as Ambedkar Jayanti or Buddha Pournima." A majority of the Hindus on the campus are averse to discussing or celebrating Ambedkarite ideas, he adds. "While the opposition is not as major or evident as it is in India, there are strategic methods like organising parallel events on April 14 to divert the attention from us. It is done strategically."

In February 2022, the California State University made news for recognising ‘caste' as a protected category in its anti-discrimination policy; a fight led by Equality Labs and a move that was welcomed by many working against caste-discrimination in the US. In addition to the Cal State move, in recent years, several rights-based organisations through their works have put a spotlight on how caste operates in foreign universities too, where upper-caste Indians dominate the narratives in a number of teaching and learning spaces.

Neil and Tatad, Who identify themselves as Ambedkarites, observe that for an Indian student belonging to the Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Other Backward Castes (OBC), the challenges to create a space for themselves in these educational spaces are multifold. While caste on campus is a much-discussed reality in India, from classroom discussions to their everyday on-campus life, the ignorance of fellow caste-privileged Indian students often creates an exclusionary environment for SC and ST students in foreign universities too.

Discussing caste in classrooms and on campus

"Upper caste Indian scholars or students in academia discuss everything, but not caste. If discussed, their narrations are completely different and false and it was initially shocking for me. I had to tell the Indian students what real India is; this from an Ambedkarite perspective. I had to congisantly do that in all my papers, discussions and other course works," says Neil.

Tatad shares a similar classroom experience of consciously bringing up caste-oppression and discrimination in India in the context of social and economic justice. These conversations, both Neil and Tatad say, often generate a sense of discomfort among the Indian professors and students, who are eager to either ignore or dismiss the points as unimportant. While non-Indian students show greater interest in understanding their arguments, the same is not the case with Indian students and professors.

"They don't want to confront or discuss caste. Education has not changed their mental state or social ability. They understand racism, but they don't understand caste. This is their hypocrisy and a complete lack of human ethics," says Neil.

When discussing caste in panel discussions and seminars or organising events for birth anniversaries of Dr Ambedkar, Mahatma Jyotirao Phule or Savitribai Phule and other community leaders, there is little to no involvement of Indian students or professors. When Tatad organised the Bhim Jayanti event, he received immense support from his Ambedkarite friends from India, who managed to send all the materials, including the ‘Jai Bhim' flag from Dadar's Chaithyabhoomi, and in reaching out to the speakers for the discussion.

Meanwhile, the Indian students' organisation at Columbia never proposed the idea of organising an event on April 14, one of the most widely celebrated days in India, says Tatad. "They celebrate all Hindu festivals. In fact, they even celebrate Ramzan together. But a majority of them have no idea about our festivals and of Bahujan discourse. There was no initiative from their side to come together and organise the event."

A close-knit exclusive upper caste network

To explain the ways in which the Indian diaspora carry their caste identity or markers across borders, Neil quotes Dr Ambedkar who wrote: "If Hindus migrate to other regions on earth, Indian caste would become a world problem." This, Neil says, becomes evident in their socialising patterns, affiliations to networks which strengthen caste hierarchies and an urge to celebrate non-inclusive Hindu festivals in order to assert a false caste pride and an exclusive Indian identity abroad.

"From supporting an authoritative or right wing regime and socialising only in privileged networks to preferring dating only white people or their own community members and practicing endogamy or other Hindu matrimonial customs even in the US, they are the same as they would be in their home country. They carry that false identity of feeling superior," says Neil.

Such social filters hinder students belonging to the Bahujan communities from accessing important academic or career-related conversations, information and opportunities. It also results in their exclusion from social groups.

For Tatad, who struggled covering the course work and assignments due to language barriers and delayed joining, approaching fellow Indians was difficult as his doubts were met with uninterested responses. "When I reached out to some of them, their first question was, ‘where did you get my number from'. They were not so supportive to us, unlike us, who happily shared everything when they needed help. They don't know the context of our backgrounds or the concept of support system. All are not like this, but majority of them are," says Tatad.

This stands true for other socialising activities, wherein Ambedkarite students were rarely invited.

"I haven't seen any discrimination yet, but, sometimes I feel that we aren't able to socialise. Though all students work together, there's not much interaction. There might be social media groups of Indian students for fun too, but I haven't been added to any of them, though I am an Indian. Maybe they are watching my activities closely and found me problematic," says Tatad.

Neil agrees observing the same, even among his own cohort of people he identifies as friends.

"They clearly know my identity. But my own friends have never invited me for any of their festivals or personal celebrations. I had even invited them for my wife's baby shower event. But I haven't received any such invitations from them yet," says Neil.

Personal liberty and mental health

"Being in this country, we are in a better space in terms of safeguarding our legal rights. In terms of personal freedom, they can't trouble me in my own space because of the laws of this country," says Neil.

In an environment outside their country of birth, which can be challenging to navigate especially in the presence of non-inclusive privileged groups, how is an individual's sense of personal liberty affected and how does it impact their mental health? In Neil's words, it depends on one's ability to assert in a safer and comparatively democratic space, and for Tatad it depends on their resources and limitations.

"What is freedom? Freedom is accessibility. You have the freedom to navigate, but not all spaces. Accessibility is restricted due to limited resources. The difference between the accessibility power of a Savarna and me is very shocking," says Tatad. His perspective offers nuanced insights of the practical and everyday life implications of a mind-set rooted in casteist or any other form of social hierarchies. As an Ambedkarite student, who has secured the government's overseas scholarship to study abroad, Tatad says one can enjoy a certain amount of freedom, but if you have limited resources, there are again bound by restrictions.

While Indian upper caste and class students can manage to pay higher rent and stay closer to the university, scholarship students have to accommodate themselves as per the money allotted to them, even if that means the place is hours away from the university. In terms of courses, scholarship students are unable to apply for extra courses which are paid and have to stick to open courses. Though students have free access to libraries, in order to access specific data and infographics, one has to pay, which makes it harder for scholarship students, who struggle for days to get their hands on the same information.

"In terms of mental health, there are a lot of counsellors, but I cannot approach them because they don't know my context and where my anxiety comes from. I don't think they can understand that right now. Only people from my own community can understand this," adds Tatad, who regularly reaches out to people from India or other Ambedkarite individuals in other universities for counselling and moral support.

According to Neil's observations, the presence of a collective or community of Ambedkarite students from India in foreign universities such as the Boston Study Group, Ambedkar International Mission, Dalit Solidarity Forum and Ambedkar International Centre over the last ten years has made it easier for younger students to proudly embrace their Ambedkarite identity. With a strong support system, they are able to call out any form of discrimination on campus. This, he notes, is also because the education system here does not explicitly dismiss their narratives as is the case in India.

"We are not so vulnerable here. But, I still feel there is a lack of space, opportunity and forum to create a community and have discussion with the fellow Indian diaspora. I lack opportunities because they are not willing to share what they have access to. This is because they don't want to lose their power. They have maintained that distance; the modern form of exclusion. This still makes me feel excluded," says Neil.