First Indian female president of Oxford student union was subject to ‘racist cyber lynching’

The first Indian female president of Oxford University’s students’ union has said she was subjected to a racist ‘cyber lynching’ before she was forced to resign.

Rashmi Samant, 22, stepped down within days of her election in February after old social media posts were unearthed.

In one post, she had captioned a photo of herself in Malaysia with the words ‘Ching Chang’ and in another was accused of being ‘insensitive’ to Jews. 

Ms Samant was also accused of transphobia by writing a post which separated ‘women’ from ‘transwomen’. 

She issued an apology for the posts but resigned under pressure from the Oxford Campaign for Racial Awareness and Equality and the LGBTQ+ Campaign. 

Speaking to The Times from her home in south-west India, said the criticism she received ‘starting getting quite racist’, adding that it was ‘almost a cyber lynching’. 

In relation to the first post, Ms Samant previously claimed the phrase ‘Ching Chang’ translates from Mandarin to ‘eat the plants’ – an inside joke about her vegetarianism.

But Mandarin speakers said the term is a reverse Google Translation not used by native speakers.

She was also accused of being ‘insensitive’ to Jews after posting a photo at the Berlin Holocaust Memorial, saying: ‘The memorial *CASTS* a *HOLLOW* dream of the past atrocities.’ 

Before she stepped down, Ms Samant apologised to ‘every student who has been hurt by my actions or words and seek a chance to gain your trust in me again’.

She wrote in Cherwell: ‘I fully acknowledge my shortcomings over the years and the past few days in my capacity as President-elect.

‘I come to you with an apology and a willingness to learn. I earnestly seek your help in making amends for my mistakes.’

Despite her apology, Ms Samant announced on February 16 she had decided to resign as President-Elect.

She wrote on Facebook: ‘In light of the recent events surrounding my election to the Presidency of the Oxford SU, I believe it is best for me to step down from the role.’

She added: ‘It has been an honour to be your President-Elect.’

Speaking in The Times on Saturday, Ms Samant said of the criticism she received: ‘It started getting quite racist, especially the anonymous ones — all about my skin colour and where I come from.’

‘It was almost a cyber lynching. Everything about me: my character, my reputation, everything.’

Ms Samant, an energy systems master’s student at Linacre College, claimed she was told that her face looked ‘like a black horse’s a**e’. 

She alleged she was also told to ‘go home and stay there’. 

On Monday, Ms Samant was backed by India’s foreign minister. 

Subrahmanyam Jaishankar told MPs he would talk to Britain about her having to step down from her post. 

Mr Jaishankar told MPs he would discuss the issue with Britain, adding: ‘As the land of Mahatma Gandhi, we can never ever turn our eyes away from racism.

‘Particularly so when it is in a country where we have such a large diaspora. We have strong ties with the UK. We will take up such matters with great candour when required.’

Ashwini Vaishnaw, from the Bharatiya Janata Party, claimed her treatment was a ‘continuation of attitudes and prejudices from the colonial areas’.  

When she returned to India she claimed she had been a victim of a ‘cancel culture mob’ fuelled by ‘anti-Hindu prejudice’.

She told the Indian Express: ‘There was a conscious attempt made to unearth posts made by me…

‘It was only after I won that they were brought up. I believe my posts were not malicious or racist.’

Oxford’s Campaign for Racial Awareness and Equality told the Times: ‘There is no suggestion of malicious intent; as such, CRAE is confident in its firm recommendation that the president-elect should stand down from her position.’  

Graduate student Ms Samant became the first female Indian President of the Oxford University Student Union following their biggest-ever turnout for voting.

Indian MP Shobha Karandlaje hailed Ms Samant’s landmark win on social media, describing her success as a ‘moment of pride for [the] whole [of] Udupi!’

The postgraduate student had studied at the Manipal Institute of Technology in Karnataka before accepting a postgraduate place at Oxford University.

Ms Samant, who went to school in Manipal and Udupi, is the daughter of Vathsala Samant, a homemaker, and businessman Dinesh Samant, the Times reports.

According to Oxford University, Ms Samant received 1,966 of the 3,708 votes cast for SU President – which is more than all three of her opponents combined.  

Her comment on the Holocaust – during which six million Jews were murdered by the Nazis – was perceived as a ‘pun’ on the word.

One student, known as Ethan, chose to message Ms Samant explaining why her Holocaust post was offensive. 

In messages seen by Cherwell, Ms Samant responded: ‘I completely condemn the Holocaust in that caption and am not being insensitive.

‘It is upto [sic] the interpreter. I am by the end of the day [sic] a non-native English student. I wouldn’t even dare to be insensitive about something like that’. 

When told her actions were perceived as insensitive, she replied: ‘I don’t agree with you there.’ 

Ethan told Cherwell: ‘The main problem I have with her responses is that she focused her election slate around inclusion and acceptance, but when she was called out for ignorance, she has made no effort to recognise her mistakes’.  

Following a post from Malaysia in which she used the caption ‘Ching Chang’, one Chinese student told Cherwell it was ‘awful’ Ms Samant appeared to ‘show no remorse for the use of a phrase which has been used to make fun of Chinese people for our whole lives.’

Ms Samant also apologised for an Instagram post which separated ‘women’ and ‘transwomen’.

The Free Speech Union said last month it was ‘disappointed’ to see Ms Samant resign from her post.

A spokesman told MailOnline: ‘She has apologised for the things she said and that should have been enough.

‘Publicly shaming young people and hounding them from the public square just because they’ve said something a bit daft on social media will deter all but the most boring to get involved in student politics. I hope Rashmi runs for office again soon.’

Free speech campaigner Calvin Robinson added: ‘Whilst we must do all we can do clamp down on racism where it still exists, we must also not lose perspective and context should always be considered.

‘Rashmi’s comments were entirely inappropriate, there’s no doubt about that, but she has since apologised. It is now our job to forgive her and move on.

‘We need to get to a point where we can accept someone for the person they are today, without trudging through their social media history from years ago in order to find evidence to discredit them.

‘The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Cancel culture is unforgive and unhelpful; it’s a misguided approach at social justice.

‘We’d do far better to remember the British value – the Christian value – of forgiveness.’

In an interview with the Oxford Student ahead of her win, Ms Samant had described her priorities as ‘decolonisation and inclusivity’, alongside introducing ‘Covid interventions for all’ and improving access to mental health resources.

The MSc Energy Systems student, who moved to the UK from India in October, had planned to lobby the University to ‘remove all statues proven to be imperialist’, and ‘conduct a comprehensive consultation on decolonisation of syllabi.’

Her manifesto also included plans to ‘tackle institutional homophobia and transphobia, first through conducting a university-wide consultation with the LGBTQ+ community.’

It read: ‘Being a BAME woman from a former British colony, Rashmi is empathetic towards the struggles faced by marginalised groups.’

The current Sabbatical Officers of the Student Union released a statement in the wake of the controversy. 

It said: ‘As your elected representatives and in recognition of the Office we hold, we sincerely apologise for the hurt and discomfort caused by the actions of the President-elect. Oxford SU has a no tolerance policy towards discrimination. Racism, transphobia, and antisemitism have no place in our organisation.’ 

It is understood a by-election will now be held to elect a new SU President.

 

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