Rahul pushes Cong govts on Rohith Vemula law, even though Telangana Police closed suicide case last yr

The Print

22-04-2025

'The murder of bright young people like Rohith Vemula, Payal Tadvi and Darshan Solanki is simply not acceptable,' the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said in his letter to CM Reddy and Sukhu dated 17 April, but made public by himself on X Monday. The letter to Siddaramaiah, dated 16 April, was also revealed on X by Rahul earlier Friday.
The Congress scion sent identical letters to two other Congress chief ministers—Siddaramaiah in Karnataka and Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu in Himachal Pradesh.
Hyderabad: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has urged the Revanth Reddy government in Telangana to enact a legislation named after Hyderabad Central University Ph.D. scholar Rohith Vemula 'to put a firm end' to caste-based discrimination in educational institutions.
जब तक हर छात्र को बिना भेदभाव के सम्मान, सुरक्षा और समान अवसर नहीं मिलेगा, तब तक हमारी शिक्षा व्यवस्था सभी के लिए न्यायपूर्ण नहीं हो सकती।
कर्नाटक के मुख्यमंत्री सिद्धारमैया जी को पत्र लिखने के बाद मैंने हिमाचल प्रदेश के मुख्यमंत्री सुखविंदर सिंह सुक्खू जी और तेलंगाना के… https://t.co/68y1ndQH4E pic.twitter.com/EEo8u928qy
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) April 21, 2025
However, Rahul Gandhi asking Revanth to enact the Rohith Vemula Act—'so that no child of India has to face what Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Rohith Vemula and millions of others have had to endure'—comes about a year after the Telangana police in their closure report in the case said that Vemula was not a Dalit.
Although CM Reddy assured Vemula's family that the case would be reinvestigated, there has been no progress on that front.
The police report, revealed in May last year, stated that Vemula was not a Dalit and that his death by suicide had been driven 'by apprehensions that his real caste identity would be discovered'.
The closure report before a court also noted that Vemula had 'multiple issues worrying him, and they would have driven him to end his life'.
Vemula's death by suicide in January 2016 triggered nationwide protests over the cases of discrimination against Dalits in universities.
However, claiming that the caste certificates of the Vemula family were forged, the police report said the case had been closed on account of lack of evidence.
The report also gave a clean chit to the accused, absolving then Secunderabad MP, Union minister and now Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya, then BJP MLC N. Ramchander Rao and then University of Hyderabad vice-chancellor Appa Rao Podile, and some Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) activists.
The police investigation report noted that no evidence was found to establish that the actions of the accused persons, including discrimination, drove Vemula to the extreme step.
After the report absolved them, one of the accused, Ramchander Rao, said the Congress and Left parties were attempting to gain political mileage by linking Vemula's death to the BJP.
Speaking to ThePrint Monday, Rao accused Rahul Gandhi of 'politicising the issue further and shedding crocodile tears for Rohith Vemula', even as the Congress government in Telangana was clearing forest cover at HCU and had lathi-charged, detained, and booked students protesting the auction of 400 acres of Kancha Gachibowli land—once part of the central university.
'There are enough laws to deal with caste-based discrimination in our country. Vemula ending his life was tragic, but why is Rahul Gandhi still harping on the matter when under his party government, the Telangana police, closed the case before a court, absolving us all who were wrongly implicated as abetting the student's suicide?'
Rao also pointed out that the lengthy note Vemula wrote before hanging himself in a hostel room on the HCU campus on 17 January, 2016, did not blame or name anyone.
Also read: Rahul calls EC 'compromised' at an event in US, BJP hits back over repeated 'anti-India' remarks abroad
Who was Rohith Vemula?
Vemula's caste affiliation has been under scrutiny since his death, which his friends and family alleged was a result of caste-based discrimination he suffered on the HCU campus.
Vemula was born in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. His father, Mani Kumar, belongs to the Vaddera community, classified as an OBC. His mother, Radhika, was born into a Scheduled Caste Mala family but was raised in an OBC family. Following her estrangement from her husband, Radhika raised the children on her own.
At the time of his suicide, Vemula and four other members of the Ambedkar Students' Association had been suspended from the university hostel and certain designated areas on campus. In protest, they set up a tent on the university grounds, where they had been living.
The disciplinary action by the university, based on a committee's review, followed a complaint that Vemula and the four others had violently assaulted ABVP leader Nandanam Susheel Kumar on campus.
In a suicide note, Rohith Vemula said, 'No one is responsible for my act of killing myself.'
Nevertheless, based on complaint by Vemula's friends and some HCU students, the Gachibowli police had then booked V-C Appa Rao Podile, Dattatreya, Ramchander Rao and Susheel Kumar under provisions for abetment of suicide and SC/ST atrocities act.
The matter turned political with allegations that Vemula's extreme step was a result of discrimination and targeting, at the behest of BJP leaders Dattatreya, following letters to then HRD minister Smriti Irani, seeking action against their 'anti-national acts'.
The students were reportedly involved in protests on campus against the execution of 1993 Bombay blasts convict Yakub Memon.
Rahul Gandhi was among several national leaders—including AAP's Arvind Kejriwal—who visited the University of Hyderabad in 2016 to express solidarity with the protesting students on campus.
In March 2024, months after the Congress assumed power, the Telangana Police filed a closure report saying that Rohith Vemula was not a Dalit, freeing the accused of their charges.
However, following strong objections from Vemula's family and others in May 2024, when the report became public, the then Director-General of Police Ravi Gupta, ordered further investigation into the matter and announced plans to petition the court for permission to reopen the case.
CM Reddy also met with Vemula's mother Radhika and others promising to reinvestigate the case.
'The matter is in the court. We are not dealing with the case, at present. I cannot comment further given the sensitivity—political or otherwise,' a senior police officer under Cyberabad Commissionerate under which HCU falls told ThePrint.
While Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah has affirmed his government's commitment to enact 'Rohith Vemula Act' following Rahul's letter, Telangana CM Revanth Reddy is away in Japan scouting for investments to the state.
'There has been no discussion on such an act in our government till now,' a government functionary in Telangana, who operates closely with the CM, said to ThePrint.
Addanki Dayakar, a Congress MLC from the SC community, said, 'Yes, there was no such deliberation, discussion, but now with our national leader Rahul Gandhi's pledge and letter to the CM, we will move to enact such a law.'
The Congress has repeatedly supported the 'Justice for Vemula' campaign. Rahul Gandhi had in November 2022 invited Radhika Vemula to join the Congress. Moreover, in a resolution passed at its 85th plenary session, the party promised to enact a law called the 'Rohith Vemula Act' to 'safeguard the right to education and dignity' for SC, ST, OBC and other minority groups.
However, such an act to check caste-based discrimination in education institutions does not figure among the 76 promises, including the popular six guarantees, the Congress had in its manifesto for the November 2023 Telangana polls—which it won.
What Rahul Gandhi wants
Calling the discrimination faced by Dr B.R. Ambedkar 'shameful' and something that 'should not be endured by any child in India', Rahul in his letter to Revanth Reddy said that 'it is a shame that even today, millions of students from Dalit, Adivasi and OBC communities have to face such brutal discrimination in our educational system.'
'It is time to put a firm end to this,' it added.
In his tweet, Rahul said, 'Unless every student receives respect, security and equal opportunity without discrimination, our education system cannot be fair to all. After writing a letter to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah ji, I have written a letter to Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu ji and Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy ji and requested to implement the 'Rohith Vemula Act'. The Congress Party is fully committed to providing equal access to education to every child and eliminating caste discrimination.
हाल ही में संसद में मेरी मुलाक़ात दलित, आदिवासी और OBC समुदाय के छात्रों और शिक्षकों से हुई थी। बातचीत के दौरान उन्होंने बताया कि उन्हें किस तरह कॉलेजों और विश्वविद्यालयों में जाति के आधार पर भेदभाव झेलना पड़ता है।
बाबासाहेब अंबेडकर ने दिखाया था कि शिक्षा ही वह साधन है जिससे… pic.twitter.com/gAwJxr0CIG
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) April 18, 2025
Speaking to ThePrint, A.S. Ponnanna, MLA and legal adviser to Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah, said that they are 'going to examine caste-based discrimination in educational institutions, to include harassment and bullying.'
'We intend to get the first draft ready in the next week or 10 days. We have data and the objective is to prevent discrimination,' he added.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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