Rahul Gandhi to visit Hyderabad university on Tuesday

BJP today accused Rahul Gandhi of politicising the suicide of a Dalit student at Hyderabad Central University after the Congress leader visited the protest-hit campus, and insisted that the issue had nothing to do with the victim being from the backward community.

Dattatreya had written a letter to HRD Minister Smriti Irani after a clash between two student groups in the campus in which an ABVP leader Susheel Kumar was attacked.

Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry has constituted a two member fact finding team to look into the matter related to the suicide of a research scholar in Hyderabad Central University.

Similar protests and mourning meetings were held at Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai, the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras and Hyderabad Central University.

Irani, while expressing sympathy with the student’s family, declined to comment on the incident.

Rohit Vemula, 26, who was a Ph.D. scholar at the university, committed suicide by hanging himself in a room in one of the hostels on the campus.

The university cleared them in an initial inquiry, but reversed its decision in December and took action against the five scholars, that led to one committing a suicide.

Mr. Singh said a first information report (FIR) had been registered against Mr. Dattatreya and the letter written by him, prima facie, amounted to abetment of suicide.

The vice chancellor and the minister in Delhi have not acted fairly.

The students claimed that the police quickly intervened and imposed section 144 in the area and used it to detain and manhandle them. Every student can come to the University – whether he belongs to any caste or religion. “Though no untoward incident has been reported on the campus, we see some tension-like situation here”, a police official said.

Since then they were barred from entering the administrative building, hostels, libraries, mess and other common areas, leading to massive protests by students.

Earlier, speaking to reporters on the University campus, Congress MP V Hanumantha Rao alleged that university Vice Chancellor Appa Rao was responsible for the suicide of the student, and demanded his suspension.

The Joint Action Committee for Social Justice of the varsity in a statement demanded that any family member of Rohit be provided employment, besides compensation of Rs 50 lakh.

It was in August previous year that the five students were suspended following a scuffle with activists of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).