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

The soundtrack of resistance: How 'Sada Sada Ya Nabi' is fueling the Iran war

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* The Persian track “ Sada Sada Ya Nabi ye ” by Hossein Sotoodeh has taken the world by storm. This viral media has cut across linguistic barriers to achieve cult status, reaching over 10 million views. The electrifying music and passionate rendition by the Iranian singer have resonated across the globe, particularly as the high-intensity military conflict involving Iran entered its second month in March 2026.

Manufacturing, services: India's low-skill, middle-skill labour remains underemployed

By Francis Kuriakose* The Indian economy was in a state of deceleration well before Covid-19 made its impact in early 2020. This can be inferred from the declining trends of four important macroeconomic variables that indicate the health of the economy in the last quarter of 2019.

Incarceration of Prof Saibaba 'revives' the question: What is crime, who is criminal?

By Kunal Pant* In 2016, a Supreme Court Judge asked the state of Maharashtra, “Do you want to extract a pound of flesh?” The statement was directed against the state for contesting the bail plea of Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba. Saibaba was arrested in 2014, a justification for which was to prevent him from committing what the police called “anti-national activities.”

Food security? Gujarat govt puts more than 5 lakh ration cards in the 'silent' category

By Pankti Jog* A new statistical report uploaded by the Gujarat government on the national food security portal shows that ensuring food security for the marginalized community is still not a priority of the state. The statistical report, uploaded on December 24, highlights many weaknesses in implementing the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in state.

Why Indo-Pak relations have been on 'knife’s edge' , hostilities may remain for long

By Utkarsh Bajpai* The past few decades have seen strides being made in all aspects of life – from sticks and stones to weaponry. The extreme case of this phenomenon has been nuclear weapons. The menace caused by nuclear weapons in the past is unforgettable. Images of Hiroshima and Nagasaki from 1945 come to mind, after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the cities.

Lata Mangeshkar, a Dalit from Devdasi family, 'refused to sing a song' about Ambedkar

By Pramod Ranjan* An artist is known and respected for her art. But she is equally, or even more so known and respected for her social concerns. An artist's social concerns or in other words, her worldview, give a direction and purpose to her art. History remembers only such artists whose social concerns are deep, reasoned and of durable importance. Lata Mangeshkar (28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022) was a celebrated playback singer of the Hindi film industry. She was the uncrowned queen of Indian music for over seven decades. Her popularity was unmatched. Her songs were heard and admired not only in India but also in Pakistan, Bangladesh and many other South Asian countries. In this article, we will focus on her social concerns. Lata lived for 92 long years. Music ran in her blood. Her father also belonged to the world of music. Her two sisters, Asha Bhonsle and Usha Mangeshkar, are well-known singers. Lata might have been born in Indore but the blood of a famous Devdasi family...

'Batteries now cheap enough for solar to meet India's 90% demand': Expert quotes Ember study

By A Representative Shankar Sharma, Power & Climate Policy Analyst, has urged India’s top policymakers to reconsider the financial and ecological implications of the country’s energy transition strategy in light of recent global developments. In a letter dated April 10, 2026, addressed to the Union Ministers of Finance, Power, New & Renewable Energy, Environment, Forest & Climate Change, and the Vice Chair of NITI Aayog, with a copy to the Prime Minister, Sharma highlighted concerns over India’s ambitious plans for coal gasification and the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR).

Beyond Lata: How Asha Bhosle redefined the female voice with her underrated versatility

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* The news of iconic Asha Bhosle’s ‘untimely’ demise has shocked music lovers across the country. Asha Tai was 92 years young. Normally, people celebrate a passing at this age, but Asha Bhosle—much like another legend, Dev Anand—never made us feel she was growing old. She was perhaps the most versatile artist in Bombay cinema. Hailing from a family devoted to music, Asha’s journey to success and fame was not easy. Her elder sister, Lata Mangeshkar, had already become the voice of women in cinema, and most contemporaries like Shamshad Begum, Suraiya, and Noor Jehan had slowly faded into oblivion. Frankly, there was no second or third to Lata Mangeshkar; she became the first—and perhaps the only—choice for music directors and all those who mattered in filmmaking. Asha started her musical journey at age 10 with a Marathi film, but her first break in Hindustani cinema came with the film "Chunariya" (1948). Though she was not the first choice of ...

50 years of the Port of Spain miracle: The chase that redefined Indian cricket

By Harsh Thakor* Fifty years ago, India turned the tide to rewrite cricket history, rising from the depths of despair to a moment of enduring glory. Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain, Trinidad, is celebrated among cricket grounds for its poetic beauty. For India, it became a theatre of historic triumph. In 1976, it showed the cricketing world what it was made of.

Search This Blog