Nine persons, including seven students, the principal, and the programme organiser of Jain University’s Centre for Management Studies (CMS), were arrested by the Bengaluru police on Monday, February 13, following a controversial skit with casteist overtones and derogatory references to BR Ambedkar.
The incident occurred during a college youth festival in Bengaluru on February 4, where a group of students from the University performed a skit as part of ‘Mad-Ads’, a segment where participants advertise imaginary products in a humorous manner. The skit, performed by the group ‘The Delroys Boys’, showcased a man from a lower-caste background trying to date an upper-caste woman and used several problematic phrases, including the alteration of BR Ambedkar’s name to ‘Beer Ambedkar’.
Outrage against the skit grew online, and a complaint was filed on Thursday, February 9, before the Superintendent of Police, Maharashtra, by Aakshay Bansode, State Member of the Vanchit Bahujan Yuva Aaghadi. An FIR was subsequently registered at the Siddapura police station in Bengaluru against the Dean of Jain University, the writers of the skit, and the actors, under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
‘The Delroys Boys’ posted an apology on their Instagram page on February 10, stating that their intention was to bring a social message but that the skit turned out to be unacceptable. They also expressed their regret for the harm caused by their actions.