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

By A 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

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.

Jayanthi Natarajan "never stood by tribals' rights" in MNC Vedanta's move to mine Niyamigiri Hills in Odisha

By A Representative The Odisha Chapter of the Campaign for Survival and Dignity (CSD), which played a vital role in the struggle for the enactment of historic Forest Rights Act, 2006 has blamed former Union environment minister Jaynaynthi Natarjan for failing to play any vital role to defend the tribals' rights in the forest areas during her tenure under the former UPA government. Countering her recent statement that she rejected environmental clearance to Vendanta, the top UK-based NMC, despite tremendous pressure from her colleagues in Cabinet and huge criticism from industry, and the claim that her decision was “upheld by the Supreme Court”, the CSD said this is simply not true, and actually she "disrespected" FRA.

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

Stands 'exposed': Cavalier attitude towards rushed construction of Char Dham project

By Bharat Dogra* The nation heaved a big sigh of relief when the 41 workers trapped in the under-construction Silkyara-Barkot tunnel (Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand) were finally rescued on November 28 after a 17-day rescue effort. All those involved in the rescue effort deserve a big thanks of the entire country. The government deserves appreciation for providing all-round support.

Uttarakhand tunnel disaster: 'Question mark' on rescue plan, appraisal, construction

By Bhim Singh Rawat* As many as 40 workers were trapped inside Barkot-Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi after a portion of the 4.5 km long, supposedly completed portion of the tunnel, collapsed early morning on Sunday, Nov 12, 2023. The incident has once again raised several questions over negligence in planning, appraisal and construction, absence of emergency rescue plan, violations of labour laws and environmental norms resulting in this avoidable accident.

Celebrating 125 yr old legacy of healthcare work of missionaries

Vilas Shende, director, Mure Memorial Hospital By Moin Qazi* Central India has been one of the most fertile belts for several unique experiments undertaken by missionaries in the field of education and healthcare. The result is a network of several well-known schools, colleges and hospitals that have woven themselves into the social landscape of the region. They have also become a byword for quality and affordable services delivered to all sections of the society. These institutions are characterised by committed and compassionate staff driven by the selfless pursuit of improving the well-being of society. This is the reason why the region has nursed and nurtured so many eminent people who occupy high positions in varied fields across the country as well as beyond. One of the fruits of this legacy is a more than century old iconic hospital that nestles in the heart of Nagpur city. Named as Mure Memorial Hospital after a British warrior who lost his life in a war while defending his cou...

New RTI draft rules inspired by citizen-unfriendly, overtly bureaucratic approach

By Venkatesh Nayak* The Department of Personnel and Training , Government of India has invited comments on a new set of Draft Rules (available in English only) to implement The Right to Information Act, 2005 . The RTI Rules were last amended in 2012 after a long period of consultation with various stakeholders. The Government’s move to put the draft RTI Rules out for people’s comments and suggestions for change is a welcome continuation of the tradition of public consultation. Positive aspects of the Draft RTI Rules While 60-65% of the Draft RTI Rules repeat the content of the 2012 RTI Rules, some new aspects deserve appreciation as they clarify the manner of implementation of key provisions of the RTI Act. These are: Provisions for dealing with non-compliance of the orders and directives of the Central Information Commission (CIC) by public authorities- this was missing in the 2012 RTI Rules. Non-compliance is increasingly becoming a major problem- two of my non-compliance cases are...

Dowry over duty: How material greed shattered a seven-year bond

By Archana Kumar* This account does not seek to expose names or tarnish identities. Its purpose is not to cast blame, but to articulate—with dignity—the silent suffering of a woman who lived her life anchored in love, trust, and duty, only to be ultimately abandoned.

Pairing not with law but with perpetrators: Pavlovian response to lynchings in India

By Vikash Narain Rai* Lynch-law owes its name to James Lynch, the legendary Warden of Galway, Ireland, who tried, condemned and executed his own son in 1493 for defrauding and killing strangers. But, today, what kind of a person will justify the lynching for any reason whatsoever? Will perhaps resemble the proverbial ‘wrong man to meet at wrong road at night!’

Search This Blog