Dalit–Sanskrit scholar and activist Dr TS Syam Kumar has alleged fresh intimidation by Hindutva groups, saying unidentified men reached his residence in Kerala. In a Facebook post on Sunday, the scholar wrote: “Sanghis have reached my doorstep looking for me. If he had come a few days ago asking for the contact number, now the same person has come again covering his face with helmet and ran away after insulting me with abuses. The police has been informed.”

This comes months after Dr Syam Kumar was physically assaulted by Hindutva activists in Kuzhithurai, near Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, following a seminar organised by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Sanatana Dharma.

The latest incident, is allegedly part of a pattern of threats aimed at silencing his critical voice.

Earlier, the threats against him had sparked a wave of solidarity among Dalit organisations in Kerala. Several groups gathered at Gandhi Square in Kottayam to protest against the harassment and intimidation of the scholar. Their collective statement condemned what they described as an attempt to suppress dissenting scholarship, especially from marginalised voices.

Hindutva groups, however, then defended their actions by claiming that Dr Syam Kumar was deliberately encouraged by the management of Madhyamam newspaper run by a Muslim management to insult Hindus through his writings. Dalit organisations rejected this justification, pointing out that criticism should focus on the content of his arguments rather than the platform in which they were published.

Dr Syam Kumar, who hails from Alappuzha district, has built his reputation as a Sanskrit scholar who defies entrenched caste barriers. Born into a Dalit family, he pursued higher studies at Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady, earning a postgraduate degree, MPhil, and a doctorate in Sanskrit literature, with his research centred on Kerala’s Tantric traditions.

Currently employed as a Sanskrit teacher with the Kerala government, he is noted for his mastery of Vedic, Tantric, and Shaiva texts. His book Thantra Prayachitham (2018), published by DC Books, explored Tantric rituals in Malayalam and has been cited as an important contribution to the field.

He has also authored Keraliya Tantra Paramparyam, Sabari Mala: Hindutwatranthrangalum Yadharthiyavum, and Aarude Raman? — the latter winning him the Kerala Sahitya Akademi’s G.N. Pillai Award for scientific literature in 2024.

Dr Syam Kumar has become a public figure not only for his scholarship but also for his bold criticism of caste hierarchies and Hindutva politics. In a widely read 2023 article for The Wire, he argued that the idea of Sanatana Dharma is a modern repackaging of caste oppression, citing B.R. Ambedkar’s writings to call it “inhuman and unconstitutional.”

His lectures, shared on YouTube and social media, often dissect the theological underpinnings of Hindutva and critique the Brahmanical dominance embedded in traditional texts. He has also questioned the absence of Dalit representation in Kerala’s universities and denounced practices like devaprasnam (divine consultations) as fraudulent.

Over the years, Syam Kumar has been honoured with several awards, including the Ambedkar Seva Shree National Award (2013) and the Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship from the UGC (2017). His academic contributions have taken him beyond Kerala, with research fellowships at institutions like the Pondicherry French Institute.