It's a Murder, Not Suicide! Punish the Murderers of Rohith !

        Rohith Vemula’s suicide  has shaken the entire student community and once again laid bare the oppressive norms of caste operating in our University  premises. It also exposes how the combined force of the ruling government, Vice-Chancellor of University of Hyderabad, MHRD minister Smriti Irani and ABVP president Susheel Kumar has put an end to the dreams of a Dalit student who wanted to be a man of science and a witer like Carl Sagan but unfortunately only got to write his own suicide letter.

         The members of ASA(Ambedkar Students Association), of which Rohith was an activist, did a screening of the movie “Muzaffarnagar Baaki Hai” which prompted Susheel Kumar(ABVP president) to call them as “ goons” and “ anti-national” on facebook. This led to members of ASA  seeking a public apology from him, which he did, but later accused them of having beaten him up.  A committee was formed to probe the matter and the findings revealed that there was no evidence to prove Susheel Kumar’s charges. As it happened, BJP MP Bandaru Dattatreya wrote a letter to the MHRD to intervene in the matter and the MHRD pressurized the Vice- Chancellor to suspend the 5 Dalit scholars. Smriti Irani has blatantly denied any knowledge about the whole matter even though her under secretaries have exchanged a trail of five letters with the Vice-Chancellor. The suspension order allowed the students to continue their studies in the university but  denied them entry to the hostels, administration building and other common places in groups. Even the form of punishment used was symbolic of caste cleansing practised in the olden days.

         Let’s face it, what Rohith and his friends had to suffer was not only due to their caste but also the kind of politics they were propagating. They represented the voices of dissent fighting against casteism, fascism and communal forces at a large level. Very convenienty the right –wing forces have termed them as anti-nationals. In fact, today anyone expressing views not acceptable to them is being branded as anti-national. This is not an individual case, but one in many that have been happening recently. Even Ambedkar-Periyar study circle of IIT-Madras was banned for being critical of Modi’s economic policies, though eventually the decision was revoked after massive student protests across the country.

        Rohith’s death forces us to acknowledge the new forms in which caste structure operates now. Yes, we don’t have upper caste men pouring molten glass in Dalit’s ears if he happens to listen to Vedas but we do have segregation operating at different levels across the country. The discrimination that happened with Rohith and his friends, is  another tragic testimony to the feudal passions of caste that roil India’s higher education. People who enter such institutions are often discriminated as the “less intelligent” or “less deserving.” It’s time we stood against this selective ghettoization based on caste.

        The most important lesson to learn from Rohith’s case is that today any voice rising in dissent against the ruling class is being crushed mercilessly. Be it Dalits, minorities, women or working class, everyone is facing the brunt of standing up for their rights. The need of the hour is a collective fight against the system which is slowly taking our basic right to dissent as well. So, unite,agitate and fight against the communal, casteist and fascist forces !

Our Demands:-

1. Immediate reinstatement of 4 dalit scholars
2. Resignation of vice chancellor of UOH
3. Resignation of Bandaru Dattatreya
4. Resignation of MHRD minister Smriti Irani
5. Book ABVP leader Susheel Kumar under Abetment of Suicide