Sins of Savarnatva

The upper castes believe that the UGC regulations are a death knell to their own existence

- Y. S. Alone

THE University Grants Commission (UGC) has brought out a gazette notice regarding the Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions Regulations, 2026, which has become a bone of contention among upper-caste Hindus, leading to a spectre of violence.

As a matter of fact, people who have expressed their outrage predominantly belong to a certain section of Indian society, mainly the upper castes. According to them, the regulations are a death knell to their own existence. Neither has anyone read the regulations, nor have they attempted to understand them. Social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Instagram and X were filled with anger and hate. While every citizen has the right to express their disagreements, the psyche of opposition is to produce the counter-victimhood syndrome without any deliberation. Worst of all is the media, which has often supported the spectre of hate and violence, be it ideological, philosophical, physical or psychological. The media’s claim is that their Job is to report the matter, but in reality, their objectives are guided by certain ideological standpoints and adherence to Brahmanical traditions in the Indian philosophical and social system, and thus, 'Constitutional letter and spirit' is absent in their narratives.