As protests raged in New Delhi and Hyderabad over the alleged suicide of dalit Ph.D. scholar Rohit Vemula, matters took a political turn.
This newspaper has in its possession a letter of minister of state for labour Bandaru Dattatreya to HRD minister Smriti Irani in which he says Hyderabad University is a “den of casteist, extremist and anti-national politics”.
Recalling the Ambedkar Students’ Association’s alleged protest against Yakub Memon’s execution, Mr Dattatreya notes how local ABVP chief Sushi Kumar was allegedly manhandled by the ASA.
He sought action against these “anti-national acts”, claiming the university administration was “a mute spectator to such events”.
Mr Dattatreya and Hyderabad University’s vice-chancellor were named in the FIR over the alleged suicide, and the HRD ministry has sent a two-member fact-finding team to Hyderabad to investigate.
Several political parties, including the Congress and CPI(M-L), demanded the resignations of both Mr Dattatreya and Ms Irani. Protests were held outside Ms Irani’s office and residence Monday.
