Politics over Rohith Vemula’s suicide heated up on Saturday, the day the Dalit scholar would have turned 27, as Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi again reached Hyderabad University campus and joined the students on a hunger strike.
The Congress leader attacked the Centre and the RSS saying, “what happened here is exactly what was done to Gandhiji, who was killed by the same forces which did not allow him to speak the truth.”
However, the BJP and the Government slammed the Gandhi scion and accused him of shedding “crocodile tears” and acting “irresponsibly” by politicising the matter on Dalit versus non-Dalit lines.
Asking him to take up all his issues in the upcoming Budget Session of Parliament, they said suicides by nine Dalit students had taken place on the campus during the UPA’s rule, but Rahul never bothered to go there.
Earlier, tension prevailed on the campus as about 50 ABVP workers tried to stop Rahul’s car at the main gate but were prevented from doing so by the police, who used batons and took the protesters into custody.
Rahul first joined agitating students in a candle light vigil past midnight and later went on a nearly nine-hour fast with them. Rohith’s mother Radhika and brother Raju too were present at the protest site. Members of SC/ST Teachers and Officers Forum too were on a relay hunger strike.
“My main opposition to Narendra Modi and the RSS is that they are trying to crush the spirit of Indian students and youngsters by imposing one idea from the top,” Rahul said. He drew a parallel between Rohith’s suicide and Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination.
“Exactly the same thing that happened to Gandhiji happened to Rohith...They did not want him to speak the truth and reveal what he saw in this institution,” he said.
Insisting that the incident was not related to one individual or any particular community, Rahul told the students, “You will find one day that the same people who crushed Rohith will be blocking your path to freedom and progress”. He also advocated that a law be enacted to end massive discrimination in universities.
Stung by the attack Union Ministers accused Rahul of using students as a “political tool”.
Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu asked Opposition parties to wait for the report of the judicial commission ordered to probe the suicide by the Centre. “The Congress is shedding crocodile tears simply to gain political mileage... This is part of their anti-Modi campaign across the country,” he said.
Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said, “Exams are due in Hyderabad University soon. All students are busy with their studies. The Government has announced a judicial probe into the matter. Peace has been restored there. Now, Rahul Gandhi is politicizing the issue.”
Rural Development Minister Birender Singh also took a pot-shot at Rahul, saying “the party which has been reduced to 44 MPs from 206 MPs in the lok Sabha is politicising every issue”.
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said, “Rahul and responsibility, these two Rs never go together. Today
he has proved the same. We are all very sad and disturbed about Rohith Vemula’s suicide. But the way Rahul Gandhi has shown insensitivity is the reason why I say he and responsibility don’t go together.”
Meanwhile, the students’ demand for removal of acting vice-chancellor Vipin Srivastava was partially met as he too went on leave for four days and in his place M Periasamy, head of School of Chemistry has been assigned the charge of V-C.
A section of students led by Joint Action Committee (JAC) has also given a call for a march to HRD Ministry in New Delhi on February 4. The JAC has appealed to university students from across the country to participate in the March from Mandi House to Shastri Bhawan.