U Dalit Cell Burns Effigy of Smriti Irani

The teachers alleged that baseless and misleading statements by Irani were bringing down the morale of the Dalits holding administrative positions in the university.

RPI faction leader Prakash Ambedkar has demanded that Union HRD minister Smriti Irani, labour minister and Hyderabad MP Bandaru Dattatreya and Hyderabad Central University vice-chancellor Appa Rao be booked for abetment in Dalit PhD scholar Rohith Vemula suicide case.

“Prime Minister should stop this pretence of emotions and the expressions of words of sympathy”. Mother India has lost a son. The punishment was meted out to them after a leader of ABVP in the campus complained to BJP-led Union government about a scuffle over a poster and the HRD minister intervened following Dattatreya’s letter.

“It took so many days and so many protests nationwide to make the Prime Minister feel the pain of the family. We are right in demanding that the PM take action”, he said. Officials said Irani spoke to Radhika, Rohith’s mother, and assured her of justice as per the findings of the judicial commission, which was set up following a report by a factfinding committee of the ministry. Meanwhile, Podile has gone on indefinite leave citing personal reasons and Vipin Srivastava, who headed the executive committee that expelled Vemula and four others, has been appointed acting V-C, as announced on the university’s website.

“So all those involved in the action against the students which led to Vemula’s suicide, should face charges of abetment to suicide”, he demanded while talking to reporters here yesterday.

Trinamool Congress MP Sugatha Roy said neither Hyderabad University administration nor Irani and Dattatreya can be absolved from the responsibility for the suicide.