President Pranab Mukherjee, in his capacity as Visitor of all central universities, has been urged to convene an urgent meeting of the Court of University of Hyderabad to discuss the death of research scholar Rohith Vemula and its aftermath.
TN Seema, Rajya Sabha MP of the CPI(M), who is also a member of the Court, has written to Mukherjee saying that it will not be morally right for her to continue as a member of the Court unless punitive action is taken against the authorities, students and ministers who created the circumstances that led to Rohith’s death. She has also written to Vice President Hamid Ansari to look into the matter.
The Court meeting of the University held in November 2014 had discussed the suicide of another Dalit research scholar, Madari Venkatesh. The Court had given suggestions to improve the situation in the University. “Apparently, no such suggestions have been accepted. I will wait for the President’s and Vice President’s reply. If the Court meeting is not convened to discuss the action of university authorities, I will resign from the post,” the MP told
She said in the letter that the University authorities, including the Vice-Chancellor, have taken a callous attitude towards the plight of Dalit students on the campus. “I also feel that without proper investigation into the role of the two Union Ministers who abused their powers and coerced the University to take punitive action against the students, it will not be morally right for me to continue as a member of the Court of the University,” she said in the letter.
Meanwhile, the Congress has demanded an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for remarks by HRD Minister Smriti Irani. “Belated decision of Hyderabad Central University to revoke the suspension of four dalit PhD scholars proves the guilt, complicity and collusion of BJP-ABVP-University authorities in perpetuating anti-poor, anti-dalit agenda on the campus. …had this decision been taken prior to 17th January Rohith Vemula would have been alive today,” Congress’s chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala said.