Year after Rohith Vemula death, stir rocks Hyderabad University
Holding placards reading Justice for Rohit Vemula , the protesters marched towards the main gate and tried to enter the university.
Hyderabad: A group of protesters tried to enter the University of Hyderabad (UoH) on Tuesday to take part in a meeting organised in memory of Rohith Vemula on his first death anniversary, but were whisked away by the police.
The protesters comprising a number of students’ organisations had assembled in front of the UoH main gate as part of “Shahadat Din” of Vemula, who was found hanging in a hostel room on the varsity campus on January 17 2016.
A section of students, under the aegis of Joint Action Committee for Social Justice — UoH, said they would gather at the “Rohit Stupa” to remember his legacy and to vow that the fight will go on against “casteism and communalism”.
The protesters marched towards the main entrance gate of UoH, raised slogans against UoH vice-chancellor Apparao Podile and sought his immediate arrest.
Holding placards reading “Justice for Rohit Vemula”, the protesters marched towards the main gate and tried to enter the university.
The police immediately took them away in a vehicle even as JAC members assembled near the main gate after coming from inside the campus.
Vemula’s suicide had sparked massive protests nationwide, resulting in a fierce political slugfest, with a string of political parties and dalit organisations siding with students and accusing the BJP and the varsity administration of targeting Vemula.
It had also triggered a huge political furore with the then HRD minister Smriti Irani coming under attack along with labour minister Bandaru Dattatreya for having written a letter related to the matter.
Raising questions on Rohit Vemula’s dalit status, a commission constituted by the HRD ministry after the scholar’s death had said the material on record did not establish it and attributed his suicide to personal reasons.
However, National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) chairperson P.L. Punia had rejected the judicial commission’s report on Vemula’s suicide as fake and fictitious, and said the deceased research scholar was a dalit.