While the idea of guards pacing the familiar corridors of their hostel made them burst into childlike smiles, students of the reserved category were forcing themselves to stay put in their tent close by. They have rejected the one-judge inquiry panel set up by the Delhi University Vice-Chancellor to probe the hostel violence of February 23.

The students started a relay hunger strike on Monday seeking an inquiry by at least two persons, including one from the reserved category, besides changes in terms of reference.

While Principal B.B.L. Agarwal says that the panel was set up by the VC and he has no say, the students believe there is much he can do. Stop the teachers from asking them their castes, for instance.

``Each time there is a viva voce, the first thing many teachers ask us is our name, then our rank in the medical entrance which reveals whether we are from the reserved category or not, and often go to the extent of asking us our caste,'' the students said. Praveen Kumar, an intern now, says he was asked his caste in the lecture theatre in front of 100 children in his first year.

Students say it is usual for a teacher to ask: ``Naam kya hai?'' If the student gives a name without a surname, which does not divulge his caste, the teacher immediately says: ``Bete padha karo''.

In fact, an Orthopaedics `external' professor for final year students this year reportedly asked many students bluntly which category they were from. (Prof to boy: ``Nam kya hai?.' Boy: `Sohan Das.' Prof: `Baniya ho?' Boy: `No sir. I am from R cat.' Prof: `Jaat kya hai tumhari?' Boy: `I'm from R cat sir').

Principal Agarwal says that the students should put in their complaints case by case before the inquiry panel so that future incidents of discrimination can be prevented.

Professor Ramprakash, head of the department of Anatomy, when asked about the complaints of students, said that students may have been asked about their fathers to know their backgrounds. ``If their parents are unlettered then it is my responsibility to help them out. But if the parent is educated and well placed and the student is not performing well, he is to blame.'' But when asked why students were asked about their castes, he said he did not know. He said that students should not be afraid and must assert themselves. ``We are demoralised after we are asked our caste by teachers,'' students say. ``It is a revelation to me that it demoralises them,'' Ramprakash said.

Students named at least seven professors who had asked them their castes. ``Nothing will change till there are faculty members from the reserved category,'' students say. At present there are two and they refuse to be drawn into the issue. ``Stop asking us our caste, or mentioning our entrance marks in the assessment card, which reveals our reserved status,'' students say.