New Delhi: Politics is now being played over the Dalit student's suicide at Central University in Hyderabad. Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi along with party general secretary Digvijaya Singh will visit the university and will meet other students and their families.
A case has been registered against Union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya and vice chancellor of the Hyderabad Central University in connection with the suicide case of PhD scholar V Rohith. The case has been registered under the SC/ST Act.
The Telangana Jagruti Yuva Morcha also held protest outside Dattatreya's residence in Hyderabad.
Meanwhile, Social Justice and Empowerment Thawar Chand Gehlot has sought report from the state government on the suicide of the Dalit student. "Whenever there is incident of death of a Dalit, we take note of it followed by an inquiry. It is a sad incident. He and his family should get justice," said Gehlot.
ICSSR chief and former UGC chairman Sukhdeo Thorat met Gehlot on Monday and had also submitted a memorandum to HRD Minister Smriti Irani on the suicide. The five expelled student including Rohith had met Thorat on December 28, 2015 in Hyderabad and gave him a memo seeking help. Thorat asked ministers to intervene in the matter.
Hitting out at the Narendra Modi government, AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi said, "Death of V Rohith shows cold-hearted attitude of concerned Minister and the government. I condemn this attitude and I hope that strong action that taken against the Vice Chancellor."
The HRD ministry on Monday constituted a two-member fact finding team to look into the suicide of Rohith even as it rejected allegations that its intervention had led to the incident. The ministry has also maintained that it had only sought a status report regarding a clash between two students' associations in August 2015.
Official sources said that the team led by Shakila T Shamsu, OSD in the HRD ministry, and who will be accompanied by a Deputy Secretary level officer Surat Singh is headed to Hyderabad to look into the entire matter and submit the report to the ministry.
Rohith, a Dalit PhD scholar, was found hanging at the Central University's hostel room in the campus on Sunday triggering protests from fellow students on Monday morning.
Amid allegations of interference, a HRD ministry official said it had only sought a status report over the events in Hyderabad after a group of students had allegedly attacked Susheel Kumar, the then President of ABVP unit in the University of Hyderabad.
The issue also took a political turn with allegations that the extreme action by Rohith was a result of discrimination against Dalit students at the behest of Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya, who had written a letter to HRD Minister Smriti Irani, seeking action against their "anti-national acts".
"No direction was given to the University by the ministry. Only a status report was sought," the official said.
Irani said the government neither intervenes in the functioning of the university nor does it have any administrative control over it.
Giving a detailed sequence of events, ministry sources said on the night of August 3, 2015, a group of students suspected to be belonging to Ambedkar Students Association allegedly attacked Kumar and the Proctorial Board of the University inquired into the matter.
It was the Executive council of the University that then approved the expulsion of five students including Rohith. Ministry sources also emphasised that subsequently, an Executive Sub Committee which included a senior Dalit faculty member and headed by senior most professor was constituted, which upheld these recommendations.
However, later at a meeting of Executive council, a lenient view was taken as expulsion would have deprived the students to continue PhD and it was decided to permit them in their departments, library and academic meetings and not in hostel, administration and other public places.
The decision was challenged by the students in the court. Three of the students also started protest by sleeping in open, the sources added.
The sources also added that Dean Students Welfare had regularly counselled the students to have patience to know the court's decision while the Vice Chancellor had also discussed the issue with them.
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