The Unbearable Heaviness of Being 'Dalip'

I was 20, eclectic and confused, a journalism student. The first protests were full of raw energy. I flowed with the tide. I knew Dilip Simeon was right. The entire academic community in the country knew. That's why he was murderously assaulted - an event which hit the headlines in 1982.

Hence the dark irony, that 26 years later, this legendary catalyst of resistance, a role-model for students of several generations, suddenly becomes "Dalip" in the Delhi High Court records.

But first, the truth.

On February 18, 1982, Dilip Simeon got on his scooter to proceed to Ramjas College in Delhi University, where he taught history. He was followed by a gang of musclemen in a car, and waylaid in a bylane near Maiden's Hotel. He was bludgeoned with lead pipes, and left to die. His leg was broken in two places - the scars are still there - his lips smashed, his upper jaw damaged, five teeth knocked out.

There was outrage. The Vice-Chancellor, academics and students arrived at the hospital. Street protests spread. Everyone knew who had masterminded the attack, which was part of a larger picture. Those days Ramjas College was run like a banana republic by Principal Kartar Singh and his organised infrastructure of 'legitimate and illegitimate' loyalists. There were allegations of illegal admissions, blatant goondaism, injustice against karamcharis and students. There was the saffron brigade, inside and outside the classroom, calling the shots, and patronised by the 'Princy', allegedly an ex-communist.

The historical catalyst of the events was a humble gardener. Sita Ram Mali planted a tree on which a hundred flowers of resistance bloomed. He had earlier testified against the principal for ordering karamcharis to physically disrupt a DUTA (Delhi University Teachers' Association) meeting convened to discuss the corruption at Ramjas. He refused to be gagged by the establishment's musclemen. He was doomed to undergo a Kafka-esque labyrinth of injustice. His salary was stopped illegally, without an inquiry. He was being pushed out, just as many other poor karamcharis before him.

The tyranny had become suffocating. Ramjas was no longer a place where young minds could study in peace. In October 1981, Dilip sat on an indefinite fast, demanding Sita Ram's salary, and an apology. And in February 1982, he was made the target of a murderous assault. What followed was historical: the third term saw an upsurge of resistance involving all sections of the community, solidarity for Ramjas hostellers from all campus hostels, a leap of political consciousness. The legacy continues till this day. That is why Dilip is remembered - for the optimism of resistance and the liberating power of knowledge.