The first Indian female president of the Oxford University Student Union (OUSU), Rashmi Samant, who resigned in 2021 five days after being appointed has published a new book “A Hindu in Oxford”.
Samant’s successor who also identifies as an Indian female, Anvee Bhutani, criticised the book. Bhutani took to Twitter to say that “Racism exists in Oxford, but Rashmi was not bullied because of her race, religion, or nationality. This novel propagates a false narrative.”
Samant’s book delves into how her life “turned topsy turvy by accusations of racism, anti-Semitism and transphobia”, stating how her posts were “dug up, mischievously misinterpreted and weaponized to browbeat me into resigning”. Samant also wrote how her “historic election victory rapidly transformed into a distressing nightmare of bullying, harassment, & threats”
Samant wrote in The Times of India that the attacks she faced were spearheaded by “an academic at the University who directly targeted and insulted my Hindu identity and upbringing”. The comments made by the academic caused the University to investigate the matter.
Oxford’s Jewish Society told student publication, Cherwell that Samant’s “caption of a photo at the Berlin Holocaust Memorial exhibited severe insensitivity and ignorance, as did her ill-thought-out parallel between Cecil Rhodes and Adolf Hitler.” The Oxford International Society and the SU LGBTQ+ Campaign also called for her resignation.
Cherwell also reported that, at the time, Samant captioned a post of herself in Malaysia with the pejorative caption “Ching Chang”, after comparing Cecil Rhodes to Hitler in a Student Union by the Oxford Blue.
Samant’s book is now published, captioned “In March 2020, a young girl living in Udupi on the western coast of India is thrilled that she’s achieved a dream – she receives a mail of acceptance from the much-coveted University of Oxford … Before the euphoria of being the ‘first Hindu President of the Oxford Students’ Union can die down, her life is turned topsy turvy by accusations of racism, anti-Semitism and transphobia. She becomes the target of ceaseless hate mail and death threats”.
