Oxford Racism Row: Will Raise Rashmi Samant's Issue When Required, Says Govt

Government on Rashmi Samant issue: The centre has addressed the controversy surrounding Rashmi Samant, Oxford University student who stepped down earlier this year from her role as the first Indian woman president of the students' union after being charged with racism. The issue, raised in Parliament on Monday by a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, prompted the government to say that India will look into the matter with "great candour when required."

Samant, 22, is pursuing postgraduation from the prestigious university in England where she was elected to her historic role. Soon after the election, she resigned as some old social media posts she made resurfaced, with many at Oxford branding her "racist" and "transphobic." Read Samant's interview with SheThePeople here.

Government On Rashmi Samant - Oxford Row

"There appears to be a continuation of attitudes and prejudices from the colonial era especially in UK. Her diversity should have been celebrated but instead of that she was cyberbullied to the point that she had to resign... If this is the kind of treatment that happens at the highest institute like Oxford what is the message that goes out to the world?" Ashwini Vaishnav, BJP leader from Odisha said in the Rajya Sabha.

Foreign Minister Dr S Jaishankar responded saying that India shares close ties with the United Kingdom and will address the racism issue in due time, if required. "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 will raise it when required and we will always champion the fight against racism and other forms of intolerance."

"We will monitor these developments very closely": government on Rashmi Samant issue

Vaishnav also added, "The Hindu religious beliefs of her parents were publicly attacked by a faculty member and that also went unpunished." Samant earlier told SheThePeople that a member of the Oxford staff partook in the matter by retrieving photos from her mother's Facebook account.

In Samant's posts, made between 2017 and 2018, a caption at the Berlin Holocaust Memorial said, “The memorial casts a hollow dream of the past atrocities and deeds" and in Malaysia said, “ching chang.” More here.