Students further intensified their week-long stir in the Central University of Hyderabad over the suicide of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula with a massive “Chalo UoH” rally on Monday. The agitation turned into a nationwide stir with the students’ representatives and prominent intellectuals from across the country converging on the UoH campus to express their solidarity with Rohith Vemula, who hanged himself in the campus on Sunday last.
A day after Vice Chancellor P Appa Rao went on an indefinite leave and senior professor Vipin Srivastava took over his responsibilities the Joint Action Committee for Social Justice spearheading the agitation refused to relent.
JAC leaders announced that they will continue their protest till all their demands including removal of Appa Rao and legal action against those responsible for Rohith’s suicide was taken. They want action against Union Minister of State for employment Bandaru Dattatreya alleging his hand behind suspension of five Dalit research scholars including Rohith from the university in December.
Meanwhile, in another development the number of Dalit faculty members, who resigned from their administrative posts on Monday mounted to 26, with 13 more sending their resignations demanding action against Appa Rao. They also refused to accept his replacement Vipin Srivastava. Those who resigned include Prof Prakash Babu, Dean of Students Welfare.
The indefinite hunger strike by a fresh group of seven students on Monday entered the second day. The group sat on hunger strike after the police shifted the first batch to seven students to hospital on Saturday night in view of their deteriorating health condition.
Apart from the students of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, students from the central universities of Kerala, Gujrat and other States have also reached Hyderabad to participate in “Chalo UOH rally”.
Similarly student groups have also gone on relay hunger strike in Bengaluru and Mysore to express solidarity with the students of HOU.
The UoH students JAC have rejected the move of sending P Appa Rao on indefinite leave and his replacement Vipin Srivastav. In a statement the JAC pointed out that Vipin was not only the head of the sub committee of the Executive Council which decided to suspend the five Dalit students but he was also blamed in the past for suicide of another Dalit student.
In 2008 a PhD students of physics from Tamil Nadu Senthil Kumar had committed suicide when Vipin Srivastav was the Dean of the department.
P Appa Rao, who was in the eye of the storm for his role in the suspension of the five Dalit students, and was facing the ire of the students, said that he decided to go on leave to help in finding a solution through talks. “After seeking suggestions from the staff I decided to go on indefinite leave”, he said.
Srivastav announced that he will meet the students for talks to find a solution to the problem. But the protesting students have refused to meet him. JAC said that it will not agree for any talks with the administration until the resignation or removal of Appa Rao.
They are also demanding prosecution of BJP leaders Bandaru Dattatreya and N Ramchandra Rao, MlC under the SC ST Prevention of Atrocities Act and the ABVP leader Susheel Kumar holding them responsible for the suicide of Rohith. JAC’s other demands include payment of ex gratia of Rs50 lakh to Rohith’s family. They have rejected the ex gratia of Rs8 lakh announced by the university as insufficient.