Uttar Pradesh: Dalit university topper not to accept gold medal from President Kovind
A meritorious dalit student of the Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University (BBAU) in Uttar Pradesh, who topped the MCA program, has refused to accept topper’s Gold medal from President Ram Nath Kovind during the university’s convocation to be held on December 15 in Lucknow.
Ramendra Naresh has topped the Master of Computer Application (MCA) program and has been selected for the topper’s Gold medal. But he has refused to take the Gold medal from the President to lodge his protest against ‘spurt in atrocities on dalits in Uttar Pradesh and across country’.
After topping the MCA (2013-2016) Ramendra had taken admission in B.Ed course in the same university in 2017 but was rusticated along with 8 others in a case involving violent clashes with other students in the campus.
“I am pained to see dalit students and faculty members being harassed in state and central universities. Being dalits, we are forced to live with low self-esteem. Dalits in general are still being treated as low caste and are subjected to mental torture and physical assaults across country,”he alleged.
“I am refusing to accept the Gold medal as a mark of protest against dalit atrocities and show solidarity with our brethren,” said Ramendra. The dalit …read more
