The question has arisen today whether Mumbai University is a temple of knowledge or a fortress of power. Because for the past five months, the university administration has started open repression against Bhante Vimansa, who has been peacefully protesting for the Pali language, Buddhist studies and the rights of underprivileged students within the constitutional framework. This picture is not befitting of academic autonomy in a democracy, but is directly reminiscent of Hitlerism.
Pali is not just a language, but an intellectual legacy of Buddha, Dhamma and social equality. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar considered the instrument of social transformation of modern India, a separate Pali building for the Pali language, government grants to the Pali department and hostels for underprivileged students, these demands are in no way illegal, unreasonable or anti-national. Yet the Mumbai University administration turned a blind eye to these demands for five months and finally used force to break up the protest.
The forcible removal of tents, banners, and materials from the protest site on the morning of February 1, the sealing of the hostel room, and the literally bringing Bhante Vimansa to the streets and forcing him to protest in the open, all show the negligence of the university administration. In the bitter cold, what law, what morality does it fit into to make a monk, a researcher, and a protester sit in the open?
What is more serious is that the university administration directly sent a letter to the police to arrest 40 activists who came to support Bhante Vimansa. Keeping the activists in the police station until 1:30 am is not an attack on democratic rights, but what is? The right to protest, freedom of expression, and freedom of association are fundamental rights granted by the Constitution. By what authority is the university administration trampling on these rights?
The injustice against Bhante Vimansa does not stop here. Even though Union Minister Kiren Rijiju had given an appointment on September 15, 2025, the university administration did not allow Bhante Vimansa to meet the minister. On the contrary, he was beaten up by security guards, his clothes were torn, and he had to be admitted to the ICU with serious injuries. But instead of taking action against the attackers, an FIR was filed against Bhante Vimansa. This role of the administration is not unjust but vindictive.
The limit of all this is that Bhante Vimansa was expelled from his Ph.D. education. The administration has tried to eliminate him by using all three identities, research student, monk and agitator. The question is, does Mumbai University not want the Pali language or does it not want the idea of equality that comes through the Pali language?
The aggressive stance taken by the Pali Samvardhan Samiti and Ambedkarite organizations is natural. Because this issue is not limited to one individual; this issue is about the educational rights of the Bahujans, intellectual freedom and social justice. If Bhante Vimansa’s voice is suppressed today, then tomorrow the same suppression will be done on the issues of any deprived section.
The Mumbai University administration should remember that history is a witness that no matter how much oppression is done on knowledge, thoughts and movements, the voice of truth does not stop. Pali language, Buddhist thought and Ambedkarite movement are not just subjects in the curriculum, but a tradition of standing against injustice.
What is needed today is for the government and society to take serious note of this matter. The injustice against Bhante Vimansa should be stopped immediately, his academic rights should be restored and a positive decision should be taken on the demands for Pali Bhavan and grants. Otherwise, the voice standing against this Hitlerism of Mumbai University will become even louder, and that voice can be silenced not by pressure, but only by justice.
