The Oxford India Society, Oxford Hindu Society and Oxford South Asian Society, on Monday, issued a statement saying former president of the Oxford Student Union (SU) Rashmi Samant’s resignation had nothing to do with the fact that she is an Indian or a Hindu.
“We unequivocally condemn all forms of discrimination based on, but not limited to, race, religion, national origin, caste, sex, sexual orientation and gender identity. We recognize that a culture of institutional racism is prevalent in the University, and that racism is a lived reality for several members of the University, including brown students. It is with utmost caution, therefore, that we wish to clarify that this is not why Ms Samant had to resign, and by that, we mean that neither her nationality nor her religion are what prompted the calls for her resignation,” the statement read.
The Oxford Hindu Society had already condemned the coverage of Samant’s resignation by the Indian media, rejecting the charge that he university is intolerant towards Hindus.
In the new statement, the three societies once again objected to the Indian media’s coverage, saying they were trying to “pretend” that this issue is one of racism against Hindus or Indians.
The three societies said they feel the need to address the “misleading narrative” on Samant’s resignation. They condemned all forms of discrimination and recognised that a “culture of institutional racism is prevalent in the University, and that racism is a lived reality for several members of the University, including brown students”.
However, with “utmost caution”, they sought to clarify that Samant did not have to resign because of racism, by which they meant “neither her nationality nor her religion are what prompted the calls for her resignation”.
“Her narrative of this being a racist attack against her undermines real experiences of racism of students at the University,” they said.
There is no doubt whatsoever that Ms Samant’s now-deleted posts on social media are racially insensitive towards the East-Asian and Jewish communities, and are transphobic. Therefore, although the student body voted for Ms Samant because of the pledges on her manifesto, ultimately, her insensitive remarks about other minority groups and refusal to accept responsibility for her actions are what prompted calls for her resignation. We reiterate that these calls did not have anything to do with the fact that she is Indian or Hindu or a woman. In fact, the entirety of the Student Union Sabbatical Officer team elected this year is constituted by BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) women, including another Indian woman born and raised as Hindu.
Ms Samant’s failure to take responsibility for her actions, and her attempts at justifying her offensive remarks are reprehensible. We, therefore, express our solidarity with both the Oxford University Student Union Campaign for Racial Awareness and Equality, and LGBTQ+ Campaigns who previously released statements calling for Ms Samant’s resignation from her position of President-Elect.
On March 15 2021, the controversy was discussed in the Rajya Sabha where BJP MP Ashwini Vaishnav termed Rashmi’s resignation a serious case of racism. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar responded stating that the issue was being monitored closely and that the matter will be taken up when required.
