- Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi visits Hyderabad Central University (HCU) and addresses the students who are on strike.
- Rohith Vemula was found hanging in a hostel room in HCU on 17 January.
- HCU Vice Chancellor Appa Rao Podile, Union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya, and few more were named in an FIR related to the case.
- Appa Rao Podile went on a “personal leave,” leaving Vipin Srivastava as interim VC.
- Srivastava was on the Executive Committee which suspended Vemula.
- Srivastava went on leave hours before Rahul Gandhi reached the campus.
- M Periasamy has replaced Srivastava as interim VC.
After addressing the students Rahul Gandhi and Rohith Vemula’s mother end their hunger strike at the HCU campus.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi addresses students at the Hyderabad University.
Rahul said, “There is a lot of discrimination towards students from different categories in India”. He also said that there is a Rohith Vemula in every educational institution in our country.
Rahul also said, “The prime minister must come and share his ideas with the students here and if those ideas are acceptable to the students, I am fine with it”.
He also took the opportunity to slam PM Modi saying,
I want to respectfully tell Prime Minister Narendra Modi that when you call a young boy anti-national, it is a disservice to the people. Everyone in this country is made of Indians and no one here is anti-national.
Rahul added, “My main opposition to Mr Modi and the RSS is that they are trying to crush the spirit of Indian youngsters by imposing one idea from the top”. He also alleged that one day the very same people who crushed Rohith Vemula will try to block other students’ path too.
BJP’s Nalin Kohli responded to Rahul Gandhi’s speech immediately on Times Now and defended the Central government on the issue. The BJP had earlier alleged that Rahul Gandhi’s visit to the Hyderabad Central University was an attempt to gain political brownie points.
Protests Outside RSS Office in Delhi
Students in Delhi are protesting outside the office of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
Another Dalit Victim’s Mother Writes to Rohith Vemula’s Mother and Friends
Mother of another Dalit victim Aniket Ambhore, an Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay who committed suicide in 2014, has written to the family and friends of Rohith Vemula, and shared her grief.
The letter was posted on a Facebook page dedicated by IIT Bombay to Rohith Vemula.
Though Rohith has not blamed anybody in his letter, it is very heart wrenching. I can see the similarities between the thoughts of the two, Aniket and Rohith, and I am trying to understand what pain they must have gone through.Sunita Ambhore, Mother of Aniket Ambhore