As Oxford probes Rashmi Samant bullying, here's what faculty member said against religion

Following the uncovering of racism, cyberbullying in Oxford University against an Indian-born Rashmi Samant, the British Police, as well as the tier 1 university, have begun an investigation into the complaints. Samant had resigned from the historic position of President-elect of the Oxford University Student union in February after being subjected to intense bullying over her social media captions, posts from the past. While she ran the election campaign on ‘decolonisation’, her Twitter account was suspended and was returned with zero followers.

Samant was not only forced to issue a public apology but eventually forced to resign from the position just weeks after making history in the British University. The Udupi-born was attacked on her religion and her parents were also dragged in by a faculty member Abhijit Sarkar who publicly admitted on Instagram, “very glad to see that she has been forced to resign within 2 days after her election.” 

While Samant has returned to her home in India, a complaint was filed with Thames Valley Police by Satish Sharma, Managing Director of the global Hindu Federation, on behalf of Rashmi Samant. It has accused Abhijit Sarkar, a postdoctoral history researcher at New College in Oxford University of inciting religious hatred.

Under #DismissAbhijitsarkar Indians across the globe are showing solidarity to Samant who had to face racism in Oxford University. Several other British Hindu groups have also raised concerns around the remarks made by the faculty member.

Sarkar’s remarks under scrutiny

While the police have also confirmed that it has “received a report of an alleged hate incident”, Sarkar’s remarks on social media are currently under scrutiny. On February 17, Sarkar posted an image of Samant’s parents on Instagram and made references to their Hindu faith while also categorising the Indian-origin student’s home state of Karnataka as a “bastion of Islamophobic forces.” The university staffer also wrote, “Hindutva "culture" with its inhererent caste-based tortures and most violent form of patriarchy (showed in detail by Dr Ambedkar and Dalit historians). Of course, they are always ready to destroy statues of non-Hindutva people whenever there is a chance, be it Muslims or Christians or liberal Hindus.”

Apart from the post with Samant's parents, Sarkar had also described himself as "aggressively anti-religion" in a separate post which is now deleted. While the image is not available on the Oxford University faculty member's public Instagram page, he had shared an image of Goddess Saraswati while explaining in the caption that he "broke several Saraswati idols by thrashing them on floor".

He added, "I have been aggressively anti-religion from childhood you see. Clearly, breaking statues haven't had any bad effect on my education, exam marks, or academic career." The image had text written in Bengali so Sarkar explains, "the photo asks an excellent question: did Einstein (or Newton, Shakespeare, inventors of Corona vaccine) did Saraswati puja?"

What has Oxford University said?

Oxford University has reportedly said that an investigation into the online comments has been initiated and that the institution is “fully committed  to creating an environment where people of all backgrounds, including our Hindu students and staff, can feel welcome, valued and respected.” Meanwhile, Samant has said that the continued cyberbullying has made it difficult for her to consider returning to the university at the present stage. 

"I'm just very glad that the university and the police have launched an investigation into my complaint, and I look forward to resolving it in the best manner possible," said Samant, in a statement from India. 

The social media posts which led to Samant’s bullying included her picture in front of the famous Berlin Holocaust Memorial with the caption reading, "The memorial casts a hollow dream of the past atrocities and deeds". Another post that was reportedly perceived to be ‘racist’ was an image she uploaded from Malaysia with the caption “Ching Chang.” 

Her comments on addressing the LGBTQ+ community of calling ‘trans women’ instead of just ‘women’ were also raised as objectionable. "When I thought I could not be humiliated even more, my account was suspended. Restored after 36 hours with zero followers. Freedom of Speech?," she tweeted on March 9. 

Indian government on the incident

India's External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar on March 15 weighed in on the Oxford University racism row and noted that as a land of Mahatma Gandhi, "we can never turn our eyes away from racism”. Jaishankar’s remarks on Monday in Rajya Sabha came after a BJP leader raised the issue concerning Indian-origin Rashmi Samant, the first Indian woman to be elected as the President of Oxford University Students Union, who stepped down from the post following accusations and cyberbullying regarding her having made racist remarks when she wasn't even a teenager.

Replying to the BJP leader, Jaishankar noted the “strong ties” with the UK and said that such matters are taken with “great candour when required". He also said that the government will be monitoring the developments “very very closely.” EAM Jaishankar responded to Ashwini Vaishnav, a BJP Rajya Sabha MP from Odisha saying, "As the land of Mahatma Gandhi, we can never ever turn our eyes away from racism. Particularly so when it is in a country where we have such a large diaspora. We've strong ties with the UK. We'll take up such matters with great candour when required."

He added, “We will monitor these developments very very closely. We will raise it when required and we will always champion the fight against racism and other forms of intolerance.”