Skip to main content

Young engineer hacked to death in suspected caste killing: Bahujan Dravidia Party demands justice

By A Representative
 
The Bahujan Dravidia Party (BDP), a relatively small but vocal political outfit committed to the upliftment of Scheduled Castes and backward communities in Tamil Nadu, has strongly condemned the murder of 24-year-old Kavin Selvaganesh in Thoothukudi, calling it a caste pride killing. Founded on the ideological legacies of Periyar and Kanshi Ram, the BDP operates primarily in southern Tamil Nadu and among Bahujan youth, with limited electoral presence but growing activist visibility.
On July 28, 2025, Kavin Selvaganesh—a gold-medallist engineering graduate working with TES 37 in Chennai—was brutally attacked and killed in broad daylight in KTC Nagar. According to the complaint filed by his mother Tamil Selvi, a government school teacher, the assailants, including one Surjeet and his parents, were known to the family and carried out what she described as a premeditated attack motivated by caste animosity. The family belongs to a Scheduled Caste community, and the murder is alleged to have been an act of retribution against Kavin’s academic and professional success.
BDP National President and Supreme Court advocate Sardar Jeevan Singh issued a public statement demanding swift action, including the immediate arrest of all named accused and the formation of a Special Investigation Team to probe the caste angle. He urged the Tamil Nadu government to classify the incident as a caste-based crime under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and to extend police protection and legal support to the family.
In his statement, Singh called the murder “a casteist lynching meant to remind the oppressed of their place,” linking it to a wider pattern of attacks on Dalit assertion, from the deaths of Ilavarasan and Sankar to more recent incidents across India. “Kavin was not just a victim; he was a symbol of our movement, and for that, he was punished,” Singh said.
The BDP has called upon the Chief Minister, the Tamil Nadu SC/ST Commission, and the National Human Rights Commission to intervene immediately and ensure accountability and justice. The party vowed to continue its fight through legal and political channels, stating, “We will not rest until justice prevails.”

Comments

TRENDING

From plagiarism to proxy exams: Galgotias and systemic failure in education

By Sandeep Pandey*   Shock is being expressed at Galgotias University being found presenting a Chinese-made robotic dog and a South Korean-made soccer-playing drone as its own creations at the recently held India AI Impact Summit 2026, a global event in New Delhi. Earlier, a UGC-listed journal had published a paper from the university titled “Corona Virus Killed by Sound Vibrations Produced by Thali or Ghanti: A Potential Hypothesis,” which became the subject of widespread ridicule. Following the robotic dog controversy coming to light, the university has withdrawn the paper. These incidents are symptoms of deeper problems afflicting the Indian education system in general. Galgotias merely bit off more than it could chew.

Farewell to Saleem Samad: A life devoted to fearless journalism

By Nava Thakuria*  Heartbreaking news arrived from Dhaka as the vibrant city lost one of its most active and committed citizens with the passing of journalist, author and progressive Bangladeshi national Saleem Samad. A gentleman who always had issues to discuss with anyone, anywhere and at any time, he passed away on 22 February 2026 while undergoing cancer treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital. He was 74. 

From ancient wisdom to modern nationhood: The Indian story

By Syed Osman Sher  South of the Himalayas lies a triangular stretch of land, spreading about 2,000 miles in each direction—a world of rare magic. It has fired the imagination of wanderers, settlers, raiders, traders, conquerors, and colonizers. They entered this country bringing with them new ethnicities, cultures, customs, religions, and languages.

Sergei Vasilyevich Gerasimov, the artist who survived Stalin's cultural purges

By Harsh Thakor*  Sergei Vasilyevich Gerasimov (September 14, 1885 – April 20, 1964) was a Soviet artist, professor, academician, and teacher. His work was posthumously awarded the Lenin Prize, the highest artistic honour of the USSR. His paintings traced the development of socialist realism in the visual arts while retaining qualities drawn from impressionism. Gerasimov reconciled a lyrical approach to nature with the demands of Soviet socialist ideology.

Public money, private profits: Crop insurance scheme as goldmine for corporates

By Vikas Meshram   The farmer in India is not merely a food provider; he is the soul of the nation. For centuries, enduring natural calamities and bearing debt generation after generation while remaining loyal to the soil, this community now finds itself trapped in a different kind of crisis. In February 2016, the Modi government launched the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) with the stated objective of freeing farmers from the shackles of debt. It was an ambitious attempt to provide a strong safety net to cultivators repeatedly devastated by excessive rainfall, drought, and hailstorms.

Nepal votes amid regional rivalry: Why New Delhi is watching closely

By Nava Thakuria*  As Nepal holds an early national election on Thursday (5 March 2026), the people of northeast India, along with other regional observers, are watching the proceedings closely. The vote was necessitated after the government of Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli collapsed in September 2025 following widespread anti-government protests. The election will determine the composition of the 275-member House of Representatives, originally scheduled for 2027, under the stewardship of an interim government led by former Supreme Court justice Sushila Karki.

'Policy long overdue': Coalition of 29 experts tells JP Nadda to act on SC warning label order

By A Representative   In a significant development for public health, the Supreme Court of India has directed the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to seriously consider implementing mandatory front-of-pack warning labels on pre-packaged food products. The order, passed by a bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K.V. Viswanathan on February 10, 2026, comes as the Court expressed dissatisfaction with the regulatory body's progress on the issue.

Unpaid overtime, broken promises: Indian Oil workers strike in Panipat

By Rosamma Thomas  Thousands of workers at the Indian Oil Corporation refinery in Panipat, Haryana, went on strike beginning February 23, 2026. They faced a police lathi charge, and the Central Industrial Security Force fired into the air to control the crowd.

From non-alignment to strategic partnership: India's ideological shift toward Israel

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak*  India's historical foreign policy maintained a notable duality: offering sanctuary to persecuted Jewish communities dating back centuries, while simultaneously supporting Palestinian self-determination as an expression of its broader anti-colonial foreign policy commitments. The gradual shift in Indian foreign policy under Hindutva-aligned governance — moving toward a strategic partnership with Israel while reducing substantive engagement with the Palestinian cause — raises legitimate questions about ideological motivation and geopolitical consequence.