Days after the first female Indian elect of Oxford University Student’s Union, Rashmi Samant, was abused and vilified for being a Hindu, the Union External Affairs Minister (EAM) raised the matter in the Upper House of Parliament.
While speaking in the Rajya Sabha, S Jaishankar said, “As 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.” He added, “We’ve strong ties with UK. We’ll take up such matters with great candour when required.”
As 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 UK. We’ll take up such matters with great candour when required: EAM on Oxford University’s racism row pic.twitter.com/s54BS8GFYE
— ANI (@ANI) March 15, 2021
He further stated that the government will monitor such cases closely and raise the issue with the concerned authorities, as and when required. “We will always champion the fight against racism and other forms of intolerance,” S Jaishankar emphasised.
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: EAM Dr S Jaishankar in Rajya Sabha on Oxford University’s racism row
— ANI (@ANI) March 15, 2021
The Oxford Racism Row
Rashmi Samant was hounded by leftists and anti-Hindu propagandists after becoming the first female Indian elect of Oxford University Student’s Union on February 11. She was forced to resign within days after being abused, bullied and targeted for being a Hindu and over her views against British colonisation.
In a coordinated attack, her old social media posts were dredged up, accusing her of being racist, anti-semitic, Islamophobic, transphobic. Besides this, Rashmi was also targeted for being a Hindu. One of the faculty members in Oxford – Dr Abhijit Sarkar had even dragged Rashmi’s parents into the controversy, attacking them for having a Lord Shri Ram display picture on their social media accounts while claiming that Rashmi’s student council elections were funded by Prime Minister Modi.
He had even accused Rashmi of being Islamophobic by alleging that she came from coastal Karnataka, which the faculty member termed as “a bastion of Islamophobic far-right forces”. Following the controversy, netizens from across the world had demanded the dismissal of Hinduphobic faculty AbhijitSarkar and had trended hashtag #DismissAbhijitSarkar on Twitter.
