Latest news with #Vemula
Indian Express
22-04-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Decode Politics: Rahul asks Cong govts to enact ‘Rohith Vemula Act'. Where do the states stand?
Earlier this month, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi wrote to Chief Ministers of the three Congress-ruled states – Telangana, Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka – urging them to implement the 'Rohith Vemula Act'. Aiming to prevent caste-based discrimination in educational institutions and named after the University of Hyderabad research scholar, who died by suicide in 2016, the so-called Act is a promise the Congress had made in its manifesto. The Congress dusting off the same now and Gandhi putting his weight behind it coincide with the party's caste-focused electoral narrative. Who was Rohith Vemula? A student at University of Hyderabad, Vemula was 25 when he died by suicide in 2016 following his expulsion from his hostel following a tiff with leaders of the ABVP. He left behind a letter saying 'My birth is my fatal accident', alluding apparently to his caste, triggering protests across the country. What further ignited tempers was the emergence of a letter by the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development written to the university days before Vemula's death, seeking action against four Dalit scholars, including him for their 'casteist, extremist and anti-national' activities. One demand of the protesters, led by the Ambedkar Students' Association on the University of Hyderabad campus, was an anti-discrimination Act in Vemula's name. How did the Congress take up this demand? The Congress, which was in the Opposition in Telangana at the time, was one of the parties that backed the protests sparked by Vemula's suicide and sought that those who allegedly abetted it be punished. Gandhi, then the Congress president, and several party leaders also participated in the protests on the University of Hyderabad campus. In the run-up to last year's Lok Sabha elections, the Congress promised to enact an anti-discrimination law if voted to power. Following the Congress's defeat, the promise remained in cold storage, till Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge raised the issue again in January. 'The Rohith Vemula Act was recommended because of the caste-based discrimination that has been happening in institutions of higher learning. In his death note, if you recollect, he explicitly wrote about it. Students coming into institutions of higher learning through reservation and merit are being discriminated against. Such discrimination will become a deterrent for students who come from historically marginalised communities,' Kharge had told The Indian Express in an interview. Has the Congress framed a Rohith Vemula Act? Sources in the Karnataka Congress said that each state will devise its own legislation, after holding consultations with all stakeholders, including the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR). Along with Dalit students and faculty leaders, the NCDHR had drafted an anti-discrimination law back in 2017. This particular draft, 'Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Eradication of Caste-based Discrimination and Promotion of Inclusive and Equitable Learning Campuses in Educational Institutions at All Levels – 2016', says the Act will 'effectively prevent all forms of social exclusion, inequity, marginality and discrimination faced by SC and ST students, especially female students from these communities in all levels of education starting from pre-primary schooling to higher levels of education'. What does the draft categorise as offences? The draft says educational institutions at all levels must totally prohibit several practices 'which are identified under the category of caste-based discrimination'. Among other provisions, the proposed draft seeks to penalise offenders for denying admission to a person from the SC/ST communities, demanding money for admission and not providing amenities as may have been promised or required to be provided by the institution. Non-Dalit and non-tribal students, teachers and non-teaching staff are also liable to be penalised for violating the provisions. In addition to charges that the violator is liable to face under the SC/ST Act, the draft mandates that educational institutions suspend the accused from administrative posts/academic classes to 'prevent interference with the inquiry'. Why is the Congress raising the demand now? Apart from the Congress's focus on caste census and a campaign around that, party insiders say another reason behind the push for the legislation is Vemula's 10th death anniversary falling next year. 'We are committed to drafting and implementing the Act so that no educational institution or person would ever discriminate against students who hail from SC/ST backgrounds,' Kharge had said.
The Print
22-04-2025
- Politics
- The Print
Rahul pushes Cong govts on Rohith Vemula law, even though Telangana Police closed suicide case last yr
'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… — 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… — 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) Also read: 'We were braver under British rule'—Rahul Gandhi says Indians today scared to face certain truths
New Indian Express
22-04-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Rahul Gandhi tells CM Revanth Reddy to implement Rohith Vemula Act
HYDERABAD: Top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has asked Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to enact 'Rohith Vemula Act', to end caste-based discrimination in the education system. Vemula, a research scholar of the University of Hyderabad, ended his life in January 2016, allegedly due to institutional discrimination as the varsity issued orders prohibiting him and four others from accessing public spaces on the campus. In his letter to the chief minister, Rahul mentioned the harrowing stories of Dalit students and leaders and drew a parallel between the historical injustices faced by Dr BR Ambedkar and the deaths of modern-day students like Vemula, Payal Tadvi and Darshan Solanki. The letter quoted Ambedkar's painful recollections of systemic exclusion, including denial food and water during a journey and being forced to sit apart from other students in school due to his caste. Rahul wrote that these incidents reflect a continuing legacy of caste-based oppression that still pervades Indian society, particularly within the education system. Promising futures cut short, says Rahul 'It is a shame that even today, millions of students from Dalit, Adivasi and OBC communities have to face such brutal discrimination,' Gandhi wrote, highlighting the structural and emotional toll inflicted on marginalised communities. Denouncing the deaths of Rohith Vemula, Tadvi and Solanki as 'murders' of promising futures, he noted that their loss was 'simply not acceptable'. He asked the Telangana government to take definitive legislative action to ensure no child of India has to endure what these students faced. Recently, Rahul made a similar request to the Karnataka government.
