Accused of Racism, Manipal’s Rashmi Samant quits as Oxford Students’ Union President-Elect
London/ Bengaluru: According to a Times of India report, Manipal based Rashmi Samant, who became the first Indian woman to be elected president of the Oxford University Students’ Union had to inadvertently quit after her past social media post was accused of carrying ‘racist’ and ‘insensitive’ references to the Holocaust.
Rashmi, who did her schooling in Manipal, Udupi, is the daughter of Vathsala Samant, a homemaker, and businessman Dinesh Samant. According to Oxford University, she had received 1,966 of the 3,708 votes cast for SU President securing a landslide victory.
However, the victory was short-lived due to the ‘racism’ controversy, which emerged in the background of her win. Following the circulation of her past problematic social media post, Rashmi issued an apology through an open letter which read, “Every student who has been hurt by my actions or words and seek a chance to gain your trust in me again.”
She further said, “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, as calls for her resignation continued, in a Facebook post on Tuesday Rashmi Samant announced that she had decided to step down as President-Elect.
'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. It has been an honour to be your President-Elect,' she posted.
Speaking to the TOI reporters from Heathrow airport before boarding a flight back home to India on Wednesday, she said, “Instagram was my campaign page so it got sent to everyone. You had to scroll down really far to see the posts. I don’t know who found them. I don’t want to judge others because I know how much it hurts to be judged”, she expressed.
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Supreme Court upholds non-disclosure of EVM source code, citing potential misuse
New Delhi: In a recent hearing regarding Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) records, the Supreme Court reiterated its stance against the disclosure of EVM source codes, citing concerns over potential misuse.
The bench, comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, called for clarifications from an Election Commission official during the proceedings. Senior Advocate Santhosh Paul, representing one of the petitioners, raised the issue of disclosing EVM source codes. However, Justice Khanna firmly rejected the idea, stating, "Source code should never be disclosed...it will become a problem...people will then try and misuse it."
Previously, a public interest litigation (PIL) had sought an independent audit of EVM source codes, arguing for transparency in the electoral process. However, the PIL was dismissed by a bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud in November 2023.
