Skip to main content

Part of Hindutva agenda? "Extraordinary" termination of Hyderabad Dalit students' suspension termed illegal

By Our Representative
The University of Hyderabad’s (UoH’s) “decision” to revoke the suspension of four Dalit students following country-wide protests against the suicide of their colleague and leader, Rohith Vemula, a 26-year-old research scholar, has been rejected -- because it allegedly comes with huge “ifs” and “buts”.
Close on the heels of the UoH Executive Council announcement, the Joint Action Committee for Social Justice of the UoH has questioned the its “legitimacy”.
The Executive Council, said the Committee in a statement, met “without attending to the protesting students who are on indefinite hunger strike”, that too “not inside the campus”. Worse, it added, the Executive Council issued a circular, not an order revoking the suspension.
“We outrightly reject this illegitimate circular since it came through a committee headed by vice-chancellor Prof Appa Rao Podile, who in our opinion is not the legitimate vice-chancellor anymore but in fact a criminal on the run”, the statement said.
The Committee said, instead of allowing the vice-chancellor to preside a meeting to “pass the objectionable resolution, he should immediate surrender to the police.”
The statement particularly took objection to the wordings of the circular, which said that the punishment was being terminated in the circumstances of "extraordinary situation".
Pointing out that this “apathy of the university administration”, it added, “The entire episode of inquiry was fabricated and implemented under the pressure from BJP-Ministry of Human Resources and Development (MHRD) and the university administration.”
“This led to the suspension, social boycott, and eventually the death of Rohith Vemula, while the University of Hyderabad administration is responsible for the mishap. It is shameful that our democratic protest for social justice is termed as an extraordinary situation”, the statement said.
The statement underlined, “Surely, this is not an extraordinary situation for the students! We were made vulnerable and horrendous targets of the BJP's Hindutva agenda. We seriously object and reject the word "termination" of punishment.”
The statement said, “The word termination entails that it was a just and a fair process of inquiry. Besides, the punishment order is considered legitimate.”
Condemning “this play with words and their attempt to sabotage the students’ movement”, it said, “We demand an unconditional and immediate revocation of the suspension.”
Pointing out that the vice-chancellor and the MHRD have been giving us an excuse that “the case is in the court”, the statement says, “more than 72 hours” have elapsed after the FIR was filed against Union minister Bandaru Dattatreya, whose letter against the Dalit students “anti-national activities” triggered the suicide.
Also, the statement said, no action has been taken against other culprits, including the vice chancellor and ABVP president Susheel Kumar, on whose complaint the Union minister acted. Telangana police is “not arresting the culprits, who are booked under the 5C/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act and for the abetment of suicide”.
Minutes of the HoU Executive Council held on January 21, 2016, put on HoU’s website, say, “Taking into account the extraordinary situation prevailing in the University, and after discussing the issue in detail, the Council resolved to terminate the punishment imposed on the students concerned with immediate effect.”
However, it added, “Further, it was resolved that this decision of the Council is subject to the verdict in the cases filed in the High Court, and the case registered in the Gachibolwi Police Station.”
The “punishment”, inflicted upon the five Dalit students on November 27, 2015 by the Executive Council, was about the decision “not to allow five PhD students to stay in hostels, apart from not permitting them to participate in students' union elections, enter the hostels, administrative building and other common places in groups, till they complete their respective courses/programmes at the University.”
Meanwhile, Sunkanna Velpula, one of the 5 Dalit students, rejected the Executive Council decision to “revoke” suspension saying, “They mentioned in the second paragraph that 'It is subject to the cases outside in the court', and we are not fools to get carried away by this announcement by the Executive Council.''

Comments

TRENDING

Importance of Bangladesh for India amidst 'growing might' of China in South Asia

By Samara Ashrat*  The basic key factor behind the geopolitical importance of Bangladesh is its geographical location. The country shares land borders with Myanmar and India. Due to its geographical position, Bangladesh is a natural link between South Asia and Southeast Asia.  The country is also a vital geopolitical ally to India, in that it has the potential to facilitate greater integration between Northeast India and Mainland India. Not only that, due to its open access to the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh has become significant to both China and the US.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

'BBC film shows only tip of iceberg': Sanjiv Bhatt's daughter speaks at top US press club

By Our Representative   The United States' premier journalists' organisation, the National Press Club (NPC), has come down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for recent "attacks on journalists in India." Speaking at the screening of an episode of the BBC documentary “India: The Modi Question,” banned in India, in the club premises, NPC President Eileen O’Reilly said, “Since Modi came to power we have watched with frustration and disappointment as his regime has suppressed the rights of its citizens to a free and independent news media."

Regional political dynamics 'leading to' institutional violence in SAARC University

By Sandeep Pandey*  South Asian University is a university set up in Delhi by member countries of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation – India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Afghanistan and Maldives – which is open to students from all these countries. However, as SAARC is receiving little attention these days because of regional political dynamics, it appears as if SAU has lost significance too. Because of the hiatus in peace process between India and Pakistan, the Board of Governors of this University is dysfunctional.

Natural farming: Hamirpur leads the way to 'huge improvement' in nutrition, livelihood

By Bharat Dogra*  Santosh is a dedicated farmer who along with his wife Chunni Devi worked very hard in recent months to convert a small patch of unproductive land into a lush green, multi-layer vegetable garden. This has ensured year-round supply of organically grown vegetables to his family as well as fetched several thousand rupees in cash sales.

Over-stressed? As Naveen Patnaik turns frail, Odisha 'moves closer' to leadership crisis

By Sudhansu R Das  Not a single leader in Odisha is visible in the horizon who can replace Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. He has ruled Odisha for nearly two and half decades. His father, Biju Patnaik, had built Odisha; he was a daring pilot who saved the life of Indonesia’s Prime Minister Sjahrir and President Sukarno when the Dutch army blocked their exit.

Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, Ban Ki-moon, others ask Bangladesh PM to 'protect' Yunus

Counterview Desk  A campaign has been launched to support Bangladesh-based economist, micro-finance guru and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, seeking signatures from citizens across the globe in order to “protect” his work, life and safety.

Electricity sharing opens up new window for India’s eastern neighbourhood engagement

By Sufian Asif* Today, challenges like climate change, pandemics, energy reliance, economic crisis, and many more are concerning us. No nation can overcome these obstacles without the assistance and collaboration of other nations. Most importantly, many of these problems have international repercussions. South Asia is facing much more difficulty when compared to other regions. In South Asia, we have some regional organizations, but they are ineffective.

'Vulgar display of wealth': Govt of India using G20 presidency for political, electoral gains

Counterview Desk  Seeking endorsement for a public statement on India's G20 Presidency, several people’s movements, trade unions and other civil society groups have come together to say that not only will G20 and its priorities “will worsen economic, social and climate crisis”, already, India’s presidency is being used “for vulgar display of pomp & for electoral gains.”