IAS officer Tina Dabi, known for being the first Dalit to crack the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination in 2015, has denied allegations that college students protesting exam fees in Rajasthan’s Barmer were detained for calling the IAS officer a “reel star”.
In an interview with NDTV, Dabi said that the protesting students were causing “inconvenience” by blocking the road and that they were taken to the police station for questioning.
“No one was arrested or even detained. Some students, despite the fee hike issue being resolved, blocked the road and tried to harass. My subordinates took them to the police station to talk and cool down. Two hours later, they left and the issue was dead on the spot,” she said.
what actually happened
The incident unfolded as college students protesting against the exam fee hike outside Barmer’s Maharana Bhupal College (MBC) on Saturday expressed their desire to meet Dabi. The situation escalated when the official described 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, saying she was “interested in making reels” rather than paying attention to core issues.
“The collector is not a role model. If she was, she would come here to listen to the students’ demands. She is a star, she goes everywhere making reels, but she doesn’t pay attention to our problems,” they said.
They later claimed that they were detained after their demonstration ended. Several students then gathered outside the police station and demanded the release of the detained students.
Senior police officer Manoj Kumar clarified that no detention or arrest had been made.
“The police did not detain or arrest anyone and we did not mistreat any girl. To calm the situation, we brought four boys to the police station and later told them to leave. However, the 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 for an intolerant bureaucrat in India”
The matter drew reactions from several people, including Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, who slammed Dabi for the alleged remarks.
“Just another day when a bureaucrat was intolerant in India. They continue to bypass tough scrutiny despite their corruption, power drunkenness and now intolerance,” Chaturvedi wrote on X.
The ABVP also condemned the remarks, saying “arresting 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 repressive action and stands firm in defense of democratic rights,” the student body wrote on X.
Responding to the chatter on social media, Dabi said it was an attempt to “damage her image and get some cheap publicity”.
“The issue is only alive on social media. What is running on social media is just to gossip and get some cheap publicity,” she said.
