The Supreme Court has stayed the University Grants Commission’s (UGC) latest equity promotion regulations. Following the court’s directive, Allahabad University emerged as a focal point for protests held in support of these regulations. Many students in Prayagraj have taken to the streets to back these UGC regulations, sharing their personal experiences of caste-based discrimination on campus.

Newslaundry spoke to numerous students from the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Other Backwards Classes (OBC) who recounted harrowing instances of facing casteist slurs, humiliation, and psychological harassment. We also found that the UGC’s 2012 equity regulations – which the Supreme Court reinstated in January 2026 – had, in most institutions, remained confined to paper. On campus, students were unaware of the Equity Centre's existence, and no Anti-Discrimination Officer was seen actively addressing their grievances.

However, while the discourse ought to have centred on casteism and institutional discrimination, the debate at Allahabad University shifted to the question of ‘Brahmanism’. Entangled in this debate, many appeared to lose sight of the core issues.

What is the reality of casteism at Allahabad University – once hailed as the ‘Oxford of the East’? Why is student anger reaching a boiling point? And ahead of the upcoming hearing, what do these protesters want the Supreme Court to hear?

To find the answers to these questions, watch this ground report.

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