Students protesting against the suicide of Hyderabad dalit scholar Rohith Vemula got into an altercation with the employees of the University of Mumbai at the Kalina campus on Friday afternoon.
Students protesting against the suicide of Hyderabad dalit scholar Rohith Vemula got into an altercation with the employees of the University of Mumbai at the Kalina campus on Friday afternoon. The students alleged that they were manhandled and assaulted by the employees who were conducting the annual Satynarayan Puja on the campus. The employees union however refuted the allegations and said the protestors had resorted to abusing the puja. The BKC police is investigating the incident and has taken a complaint from the students.
On Friday, various students’ union that included the Nationalist Students Union of India, Nationalist Students Congress, Vidyarthi Chhatrabharti and Students Voice had converged at both the campuses of the University of Mumbai at Fort and Kalina to protest against the suicide of Vemula and also hand over their list of demands to the university authorities, demanding steps to avert such incidents.
Some students belonging to one of the unions after submitting their demands to Dr M.A. Khan, registrar, University of Mumbai at the Kalina while returning happened to pass by Mahatma Phule Bhavan where the employees of the university had organised the annual Satyanarayan puja. According to sources from the university security, the students without any provocation entered the premise shouting anti-puja slogans.
“The students said that the university was an educational institution and hence religious activities like a puja should not be conducted there,” said a security official present there.
The situation however turned ugly after the students started shouting ‘Satyanarayan Murdabad’. The university employees affiliated to the Mumbai Vidyapeeth Karmachari Sangh confronted the students and asked them to stop shouting negative slogans. However the students stuck to their demands for the puja to be stopped, which resulted in in a minor scuffle between the students and the employees.
Timely intervention by the university security and BKC police who were requisitioned for the protest ensured that the incident did not go out of hand. The students were escorted out of the premises by the police, after which they lodged a complaint of manhandling by MVKS employees.
March over dalit issues on Monday Amid the ongoing row over suicide of dalit scholar Rohith Vemula at Hyderabad University, Mumbai-based students associated with left-wing organisations will hold a march to protest atrocities against the Dalit community on Feb 1. The organisations have demanded resignation of Union Ministers Smriti Irani and Bandaru Dattatrey and Vice Chancellor of Hyderabad University.
The outrage over Rohith’s death is showing no signs of abating and youth groups from various colleges including Tata Institute of Social Services (TISS), Tata Fundamental Research Institute (TFIR) and Indian Institute of Technology (Mumbai) are raising their voice against Dalit atrocities.
Youth gathered under the umbrella “Justice for Rohit – Joint Action Committee” will hold a protest march under the leadership of Adv Prakash Ambedkar, grandson of Father of the Constitution, Late Babasaheb Ambedkar.
Ms Harshali said students of Hyderabad University are continuously fighting “casteist, fascist goons. This is not a fight between Dalits and non-Dalits but between Vedic Hindu philosophy and anti-caste philosophy, she said. In this fight, Rohith, who was politically sensitive and vibrant, took a different path against the Brahmanical caste system,” she added.
“Rohit did not commit suicide. It was collectively committed institutional murder by the BJP, Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad, and Hyderabad University administration,” said Ajin Thomas. He demanded that Rohith’s murderers be arrested immediately.
Ms Harshali demanded resignation of Union Ministers and the Vice Chancellor of Hyderabad University. The protest march will be held next Monday from Byculla.
