Politicians Descend on Hyd Uni, Because Visits Solve Everything
A flock of political leaders are starting to visit the campus and Rohith’s family. But will this solve anything?
advertisement
As protests continue at the University of Hyderabad following the suicide of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula, politicians of all hues are making a beeline for the campus to express solidarity with the agitating students.
A day after Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi’s visit, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati is set to arrive at the campus.
Sitaram Yechuri, the general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), has also visited the university campus.
Lok Janshakti Party parliamentary board leader Chirag Paswan and Ramchandra Paswan, the brother of union minister Ram Vilas Paswan, will also meet the students and Rohith’s family.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is likely to visit the university on Thursday, 21 January.
Trinamool Congress MPs Derek O’Brien and Pratima Mondal spent two hours on the campus on Tuesday night, interacting with the four Dalit scholars who were suspended with Rohith as well as the agitating students.
The parliamentarians will visit the campus again on Wednesday to address the students at the site of their hunger strike.
YSR Congress Party leader YS Jaganmohan Reddy, who met Rohith’s mother and brother at their house, has also visited the campus.
The leader of the opposition in the Andhra Pradesh assembly assured all support to the family.
Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi also visited the campus on Tuesday and expressed solidarity with the agitating students.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Tammineni Veerabhadram was also present on campus when Gandhi addressed the students.
Veerabhadram, a Telangana state secretary of the CPI (M), sat along with the students who are on a relay fast to demand the resignation and arrest of central minister Bandaru Dattatreya and Vice Chancellor Appa Rao.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)