Hritika Wasnik
The Ambedkarite Students’ Association was founded in Hyderabad Central University (HCU), in 1993 by a small group of Dalit students. The idea behind forming an Ambedkarite organization was to address the issues of discrimination and harassment faced by the Dalit students in the university campus.
In the year 2007, a group of individuals from SC, ST and OBC communities established an online group based on shared Ambedkarite ideology. By the year 2013, through efforts of founding members from TISS Mumbai faculty and non-teaching staff, the institutionalization of the group slowly took place and further gained momentum during institutionalized murder of Rohith Vemula in 2016.
A 9-member committee drafted the constitution of Ambedkarite Students’ Association, TISS Mumbai in the year 2015-16. The constitution upholds the idea of protection of rights of the marginalized communities e.g. women, Scheduled Castes (SC/Dalit), Scheduled Tribes ( ST/ Adivasi), Other Backward Castes (OBC), Minorities, disabled/differently abled individuals, sexual minorities and members belonging to other castes.
The preamble of the constitution of the Ambedkarite Students’ Association, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai reads: “We, the members of Ambedkarite Students Association, believe in Ambedkarite ideology to annihilate exploitative structures of caste, class, gender, ethnicity, religion, region, language, disability and sexual orientation inside the campus.”
The codification of Ambedkarite ideology through the ASA, TISS Mumbai constitution has created a stir in the way the association has been functioning so far. After the adoption of the constitution, the core committee (CC) of the association, which is the executive body, has attempted to include representation from various marginalized identities and sections. It further gives preference to Dalit/Tribal women in case of any seat going vacant in the core committee.
The impact of the existence of Ambedkarite Students’ Association and its reach can well be seen in the number of members joining the organization every year. On an average, 70-100 students from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai join the association. This is an indication that a significant number of people are open to exploring and understanding Ambedkarite ideology in their everyday campus lives. In addition, the victory of ASA in the students’ union elections 2022’ in alliance with Adivasi Students’ Forum, Northeast Collective, Fraternity Movement and Muslim Students’ Forum further supports the claim.
The ASA has created channels for people from various socio-economic oppressed backgrounds to connect with each other. The idea of forming an association of Ambedkarites was to create a safe space within the university campus and work within the structure to heal it. Shivani Illangovan, a member of core committee of ASA and also General Secretary of TISS Students’ Union from 2021-23 batch says, “My assertion of identity has received a lot of backlashes. I have always been vocal and open about my identity and social location. As a Dalit queer person, I’m still finding it difficult to put myself in a box in terms of my sexuality. The Ambedkarite ideology somewhere gives me the space to exist and bloom as a person.”
With people from marginalized identities becoming part of the core committee, it is also resulting in a rise in participation of women in the decision making process within the organization.
Shivani is vocal about how the ASA has helped her in expressing herself: “The way ASA has been in the past has completely changed for my batch (2021-23). We have seen a rise in women leadership in the organization, who have been openly coming out and greeting each other with Jai Bhim as part of asserting their identities.”
She adds, “Being a part of core committee has majorly impacted me as a person. As a class representative and a core committee member of ASA, I always used to be criticized for my inclination towards the organization by my classmates. It was always expected out of me, to not choose my politics over my other academic work.”
A conversation with ASA members suggests that, the participation of women in the campus politics has seen a rise since the establishment of the association. Earlier, men seemed to be taking up spaces in the decision making and other political aspects. But now, women are coming forward to claim their politics and own their places in the decision making process. The shift has come through a number of factors which includes growing grip of the anti-caste movement on the ground, voicing of Dalit women’s issues across the country and creating academic discourses in the university campus.
Moving towards the future trajectory of the organization and looking back at the impact it has created in the recent few years, Subal Meher, a PhD scholar of Tata Institute of Social Sciences, who has also been a CC member of ASA for 2019-21 ( Masters’ course) and 2022-25 ( PhD course) says, “ASA as a political organization is essential for the students to assert their identities and get a sense of belonging in the campus. I’m highly appreciative of the work that ASA has been doing in the campus. But, another thing that I would like to point out is that, it is still working under a structure. ASA is like a storm attempting to create a disturbance in the set structure. But in long term, it is not the only force which will be enough for emancipation from caste structures in the university spaces. There are certain limitations which we need to be mindful of and try to overcome them.”
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