Was Rohith Vemula a Dalit? Caste Ambiguity Delays Investigation

While one report claims that Vemula belongs to the Dalit community, another one says he is from the OBC category.

Rohith Vemula was a member of the Ambedkar Students’ Association. (Photo: Altered by The Quint)

The District Collector of Guntur in Andhra Pradesh, Kantilal Dande, has ordered a fresh inquiry to verify the caste of Hyderabad University scholar, Rohith Vemula, who committed suicide, reports The Times of India.

Dande had earlier confirmed that Vemula belonged to the Dalit community, which is in the Scheduled Caste (SC) category.

Dande, however, claims that he wants to clear the ambiguity caused by conflicting letters from Guntur, where Vemula is from, and Gurjala, where his father is from.

While Guntur records show that Vemula belongs to the Dalit community, a letter from the Gurjala mandal revenue officer claimed that he belonged to the OBC category.

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The matter has gained importance as Dalit activists have filed a case against the Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatray and Hyderabad University Vice-Chancellor Appa Rao Podile under the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe Atrocities (Prevention) Act.

During the investigation into Vemula’s suicide case, the report claims, only the report from Guntur was sent to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC).

This ambiguity has delayed the submission of Vemula’s caste certificate, in turn delaying the questioning of Dattatray and Podile.

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