Kerala teacher Deepa Nisanth stands up against beef ban, faces threats from Hindutva groups
Deepa Nishant, an Assistant Professor in Malayalam
department of Sree Kerala Varma College is the most hated person for the ABVP
students and their parent right-wing groups in Kerala. Deepa, who is also a writer, had made a Facebook post
supporting the "beef festival" protest organised by the SFI students
in her college. She voiced her concerns against the ban of beef inside the
college campus, and wrote, "Today they say no to beef equating colleges to
temples, tomorrow they will ban the entry of menstruating women and even the
backward classes, stating the same reason." She has, however, withdrawn
the post now.
The ABVP activists, students' wing of the BJP, filed a
complaint against Deepa to the Cochin Devaswom Board, an autonomous
organisation under the state government, managing the said college as well. The
board ordered probe and asked the Principal to submit a report.
To protest against the lynching of Mohammad Akhlaq in Dadri,
Uttar Pradesh, over rumours of eating beef, SFI, the students wing of CPI(M),
organised a "beef festival" in Sree Kerala Varma College on October
1, 2015. The government aided college took stringent action against the SFI
activists and suspended six students for distributing beef and bread inside the
college campus.
"Our college has a tradition of not serving
non-vegetarian dishes even for official functions. So, the management felt that
it was not fair to distribute beef within the campus," CM Latha, Principal
of Sree Kerala Varma College said to the Hindustan Times.
Deepa is being lauded by many on Facebook and currently has
over 60,000 followers, steadily rising as you are reading this. Those who are
supporting her stand, are posting on her Facebook wall declaring solidarity to
her stand but it seems she is also getting numerous threats and abusive
messages in her inbox, and otherwise from right wing activists.
Former General Secretary of CPI(M), Pinarayi Vijayan, has
come forward in support of Deepa and posted on Facebook - "The Sangh
Parivar needn't decide what sutdents should be eating. They are trying to
spread throughout India, what they started with Mohammad Akhlaq's murder in
Dadri over rumours of eating beef. Deepa Nishant's worry that in future, the
right wing groups will ban the entry of backward classes and women stating
colleges are like temples, makes sense to me."
However, Deepa told Mathrubhumi, the Cochin Devaswom Board has not
demanded of any explanation from her. She also made a Facebook post thanking
all those who are reaching out to her to show support and apologising for not
being able to respond to everyone personally.