Students Detained For Calling Tina Dabi 'Reel Star'? Here's What The IAS Officer, Cops Say

(MENAFN- Live Mint) IAS officer Tina Dabi, known for being the first Dalit to top the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination in 2015, has dismissed allegations that college students protesting against examination fees in Rajasthan 's Barmer were detained for calling the IAS officer a“reel star”.

Speaking to NDTV, Dabi said the protesting students were creating a“nuisance” by blocking the road and that they were taken to a police station for talks.

“No one ever got arrested or even detained. Some students, despite the fee hike issue being resolved, were blocking the road and trying to create a nuisance. They were taken to a police station by my subordinates for talks and cooling down. They then left two hours later, and the issue on the ground was dead,” she said.

What actually happened?

The events unfolded when college students demonstrating against the examination fee hike outside Barmer's Maharana Bhupal College (MBC) on Saturday expressed a desire to meet Dabi. The situation escalated when an official referred to the IAS officer as a“role model” for them.

Some members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) - a BJP-backed student body - refuted the official's remark and asserted that she was more“interested in making reels” rather than paying attention to pivotal issues.

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“The Collector is not a role model. If she were, she would have come here to listen to the demands of the students. She is a reel star, goes everywhere to make reels, but does not pay attention to our problems,” they said.

They later claimed that they were detained after their demonstration concluded. Several students then gathered outside the police station, demanding the release of the detained students.

Senior police officer Manoj Kumar clarified that no detentions or arrests were made.

“Neither did the police detain nor arrest anyone, and we did not mishandle any girl. To calm the situation, we brought four boys to the police station and later told them to leave. However, students gathered near the police station and demanded an apology from the administration. They stayed there for some time until our senior officers arrived and spoke to them,” he told NDTV.

'Just another day of a bureaucrat being intolerant in India'

The issue evoked responses from several people, including Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, who criticised Dabi over the alleged remarks.

“Just another day of a bureaucrat being intolerant in India. They continue to bypass harsh scrutiny despite their corruption, power drunkenness and now intolerance,” Chaturvedi wrote on X.

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The ABVP also condemned the remarks, stating that“arrests of students for expressing their views is deeply condemnable and strikes at the very core of democratic values”.

“Since when has freedom of expression become a crime? ABVP strongly condemns this suppressive action and stands firmly with students in defence of democratic rights,” the students' body wrote on X.

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Responding to the social media chatter, Dabi said it was an attempt to“malign her image and get some cheap publicity”.

“The issue is alive only on social media. What is running on social media is just to malign and get some cheap publicity,” she said.

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