Opposition parties stepped up their offensive against the Narendra Modi government on Wednesday over the death of University of Hyderabad student Rohith Vemula. The Congress reiterated its demand that HRD Minister Smriti Irani and Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya should be expelled from the Cabinet, while the Left parties decided to hold a campaign against the inequality and attacks faced by Dalit students on campuses.

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury went to Hyderabad to address the protesting students. Dalit Soshan Mukti Manch (DSMM), a Leftist platform of various Dalit organisations, decided to hold a protest in Delhi on Saturday against the “Brahminical” way of administering academic institutes. “We will hold nationwide protests against the circumstances that resulted in the murder of Rohith. It is not an isolated incident. Various institutes treat Dalits differently,” said CPI(M) leader V Srinivasa Rao, an activist of the DSMM.

Former secretary of the Social Welfare Ministry PS Krishnan said independent mechanisms should be created in all universities to address the complaints of Dalit students. He said the number of suicides by Dalit students is on the rise.

Congress spokesperson and MP Deepender Hooda said that instead of apologising, Irani was “shamelessly describing” his death as not a “dalit vs anti-dalit issue”. He said the government needed to clarify why Rohith’s fellowship had been stopped. “On what basis did the University stop paying Rohith his stipend,” Hooda asked.

Related Topics