After embracing Buddhism on the occasion of the 125th birth anniversary of late BR Ambedkar, the mother and brother of late Rohith Vemula on Thursday questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his continued “silence” over the circumstances leading to the suicide in the Hyderabad.
late Rohith’s mother Radhika Vemula and brother Raja Vemula were given “deeksha” by Buddhist monks at an initiation ceremony held at the Chaityabhoomi in the presence of Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh founder-president and late Ambedkar’s grandson Prakash Ambedkar.
In a statement issued after he and his mother embraced Buddhism, Raja Vemula said: “From today, my mother and I will start a life that Rohith always dreamt of. From today, my mother and I will be truly free, free from shame, free from daily humiliation, free from guilt of praying to the same Gods in whose name out people have been tortured for centuries”.
“We know our fight is going to be long and hard. But we feel strong and hopeful because the spirit of Ambedkar, Buddha and my brother Rohith Vemula is with us,” he said.
The move by Rohith’s mother Radhika and brother Raja to embrace Buddhism came three months he committed suicide.
Rohith (27) a PhD student at the University of Hyderabad committed suicide on January 17, 2016, after he was allegedly harassed by the University of Hyderabad at the behest ABVP activists and Union Minister of State Bandaru Dattareya.
In his statement, Raja Vemula wondered as to why the Prime Minister has chosen to keep quiet about the persons responsible for his brother’s suicide.
“Together, all the people fighting for justice for my brother are asking just one single question – why doesn’t Prime Minister Narendra Modi say a single word about the University of Hyderabad Vice Chancellor P Appa RaoIJ When he can shed tears for my brother why can’t he make a single proper statement about the people responsible for his deathIJ,” Raja asked.
Raja also took on Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani, describing her as a “political culprit”. At the deeksha ceremony venue, Raja and his mother paid floral tributes to Dr Ambedkar and bowed before his portrait.
late Dr Ambedkar had converted to Buddhism at a grand ceremony in Nagpur in 14 October 1956 as he was strongly opposed to the prevailing Hindu caste system.
Chaityabhoomi at Dadar Chowpatty, where Rohith’s mother and brother embraced Buddhism, was the place where late Dr Ambedkar was cremated a day after he passed away on December 6, 1956.
Speaking on the occasion, Prakash Ambedkar said: “We decided to organize the ‘deeksha’ ceremony after the family requested us”.
Interacting with the media later, Prakash Ambedkar charged that the RSS was preaching an ideology which was quite contrary to the one practised by late Dr Ambedkar during his life time.
“Dr Ambedkar stood for certain values. One is humanitarian values, the second is respect for persons and the third is freedom for all. This was what everybody believed Ambedkar spoke for. These are the values he introduced in the Constitution,” Prakash said.
“Today, there is another right-wing organisation that is RSS which is preaching different things. The RSS says equality has no meaning. Individual freedom has no meaning. It says that it is the organisation that should have all the rights and everyone has to submit himself to the organisation. As a result, the situation is subjugation Vs freedom,” he said.