Over 100 Indian organisations have written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson about concerns over the lack of action against an Oxford University faculty member for his alleged "Hindu hatred and bigoted views”.
In their letter to Johnson, organisations including Hindu Council UK and Hindu Forum of Europe have demanded that Dr. Abhijeet Sarkar should be suspended with immediate effect. They also demanded that he should be “expelled after a thorough investigation as “Hindu students (particularly female) would not feel safe and comfortable in his presence”.
The letter appears after Rashmi Samant who became the first Indian woman to be elected President of the Oxford Student Union (SU) was forced to resign amid controversy over some of her past social media posts. Rashmi is pursuing her MSc in Energy Systems at Oxford University remotely from her hometown in Udupi, India. She said the "cyber bullying" made it difficult for her to consider returning to the university. Other signatories include Friends of India Society International (FISI) UK, Akshay Patra Foundation UK, Vishwa Hindu Parishad UK and National Council of Hindu Temples (NCHT). Concerns raised by the signatories include:
- Rashmi Samant was the first Indian female to be elected President of Oxford Student Union with landslide victory but within few days she was forced to resign by the “cancel culture” woke brigade because of her distant past social media posts for which she sincerely apologised.
- Dr Abhijit Sarkar, a faculty member, instigated hate-filled trolls on social media against her which led her to go into hiding and finally leave the country. Dr Sarkar continued stalking Rashmi on social media, attacking her and her family for their Hindu faith and beliefs which led her to severe depression and hospitalisation.
- Dr Sarkar’s posts reflect his racist and bigoted views with multiple misogynistic and sexualised comments including gender slurs to various women on social media. This amounts to a breach of the University’s Equality Policy, and Policy and Procedures on harassment. In effect, he has committed a “hate crime”.
- In spite of global outrage, including discussion in the Indian Parliament, hundreds of emails, around 50,000 signatures on online petition and nearly 100 hate crime complaints to the Police, alarmingly there is not a single statement by the University nor by the Thames Valley Police to allay these concerns.
The letter has called on the local Thames Valley Police to charge the accused with a hate crime. The organisations have further highlighted that Dr Sarkar has come to the UK on “an Exceptional Talent visa” and have urged the Home Office to “review his visa status in view of his racist and hateful actions on social media”.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had earlier responded to the developments, stating that India would “never ever turn our eyes away from racism wherever it is” and that these developments will be monitored “very, very closely”. A Change.Org online petition launched on March 23 calling for the suspension of the faculty member has gathered nearly 48,000 signatures.
