Hundreds of students from different universities across the national capital on Wednesday again marched to the HRD ministry, alleging delay in justice for the dalit research scholar who committed suicide. The Delhi police detained around 150 protesters.
Around 150 protesting students, who were detained, decided to go on an indefinite hungerstrike at the Parliament Street police station here. According to police, due to security concerns, around 150 students were detained from outside Shastri Bhawan and taken to Parliament Street police station.
JNU Students’ Union vice-president Shehla Rashid Sora said, “Every time we try to go to the ministry and raise our demands with HRD minister Smriti Irani, we are held back and detained by the police. Protesting is a basic right. We can’t be denied that at a time when the government is trying to cover up institutional murder”.
Members of Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS) and Left-backed All-India Students Association (AISA) were also part of the protesters. “We are protesting against the delay in justice to the student who had to end his life due to the harassment by the institution. Who will be held accountable for similar such suicides in varsities across country which go unreported,” said Sucheta De of left wing All-India Students’ Association. The protests over the issue have been rocking the national capital since last week, with three JNU students sitting on an indefinite hungerstrike since Sunday. Rohit Vemula, a dalit PhD scholar, was found hanging at Hyderabad Central University’s hostel room on January 17.
He was among the five research scholars who were suspended by Hyderabad Central University (HCU) in August last year and also one of the accused in the case of assault on an ABVP student leader. They were also kept out of the hostel. The suspension was revoked later.
Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya and Hyderabad University vice-chancellor were named in an FIR over the death of the scholar, which triggered massive protests and demands for their removal from their posts.
The issue also took a political turn with allegations that the extreme action was a result of discrimination against dalit students after Mr Dattatreya had written a letter to Union HRD minister Smriti Irani seeking action against their “anti-national acts.”
