4 min readFeb 14, 2026 07:27 AM IST
First published on: Feb 14, 2026 at 07:13 AM IST
The outrage triggered among certain socially dominant sections against the UGC’s Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions Regulations, 2026 has reaffirmed B R Ambedkar’s characterisation of the caste system as representing “an ascending order of reverence and a descending order of contempt”. The sharp reaction to these regulations exposes the deep unease among privileged social groupings when institutional mechanisms attempt to address entrenched inequalities.
It is worth recalling that the regulations were framed to provide institutional remedies to students belonging to the SC, ST and OBC categories, as well as women and persons with disabilities. The regulations enabled such students to register complaints when they faced discrimination or ill-treatment on account of their identities. The 2026 regulations marked a significant departure from earlier guidelines by mandating the establishment of monitoring committees and introducing a non-compliance clause. These additions made implementation obligatory for universities and colleges. It is this enforceability that appears to have unsettled entrenched interests.
The regulations were framed against the backdrop of officially acknowledged data showing that complaints of caste-based discrimination in higher education institutions rose by more than 100 per cent over the past five years.
The hostility directed at the regulations, thus, reflects not exclusion but resistance to constitutional values of justice and equality. The agitation mounted by sections of the upper castes fits squarely within Ambedkar’s analysis of caste as a system that protects privilege while normalising contempt for those placed lower in the hierarchy.
Indian history offers ample evidence of how caste-based contempt survives across time and social status. In his address titled “My Plan of Campaign”, Swami Vivekananda recalled being told that he had no right to become a Sannyasi because he was considered a Shudra by birth. Responding with characteristic clarity, Vivekananda said, “I am not at all hurt if they call me a Shudra,” adding that it would be “a little reparation for the tyranny of my ancestors over the poor”. Similarly, when K R Narayanan was elected President in 1997, sections of the media asked him how it felt to be the “first Dalit President,” even though caste played no role in his elevation to the highest constitutional office. His response —“A President is a President”— exposed the prejudice embedded in the question itself.
More recently, the incident involving former Chief Justice B R Gavai revealed how caste-based contempt continues to be expressed brazenly, irrespective of constitutional position. An advocate hurled a shoe at him in court while shouting, “Sanatan Dharm ka apman nahin sahega Hindustan.” Disturbingly, this act was celebrated within sections of the Hindutva ecosystem.
The agitation against the UGC Equity Regulations exposes the hollowness of Hindutva’s claim to be a unifying force transcending caste. Ambedkar warned that caste is not merely a division of labour but a division of labourers — a system of graded inequality. Hindutva, far from annihilating caste, reproduces this graded hierarchy by freezing social relations into rigid, unequal structures. It envisions not a casteless Hindu society, but one permanently organised around inherited privilege and subordination.
While the UGC must also bear responsibility for ignoring several recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education — particularly those emphasising wider consultation and clearer safeguards — the central issue remains political. Hindutva stands exposed as an ideology that breeds inequality, not only between religious communities but also within Hindu society. As Ambedkar repeatedly argued, caste is anti-national, and resistance to measures aimed at annihilating caste and upholding equity amounts to resistance to the constitutional vision of India.
The writer is general secretary, Communist Party of India
