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12THEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,JANUARY21,2016

ADEATHONCAMPUS

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

MANOJCG

NEWDELHI,JANUARY20

ALLEGINGTHATHRD MinisterSmritiIraniwasunnecessarilylinkinghimtothecontro-versyoverthe suicide ofa DalitstudentofHyderabadCentralUniversity,Congress MPHanumantha Raotold The Indian ExpressWednesdaythatinhis letterto Irani,he hadnever saidtherewere anti-national ele-ments at HCU. Raos letter, in fact, hadflaggedsuicidesin theuniversity, allegedlydue tocaste discrimination.

Inan attempt todefendher cabinetcolleague BandaruDattatreya,Iranihassaid Rao, too, hadwrittento her, rais-ingissuespertainingto the university.Dattatreya is facingchargesof abetmenttosuicidebecauseofa letter to Irani inwhich he men-tioned Ambedkar

StudentsAssociationand their alleged as-saultof anABVPleader.

TheHRDministeris misrepresentingthefacts. Sheis unnecessarily doing this. Theyareplayinggames.Ihadraisedissuesofcastediscrimination, corruption andirregularitiesinthe university.Butshe neverreplied.TheHRDMinistry saysit acts oncomplaintsbyVIPsin15days.IamwaitingsinceNovember2014.They have notinformedme whatac-tiontheyhavetakenonmy letter,said Rao.

Thereis asea ofdifference betweenmyletterandthatof BandaruDattatreya.I neversaidtherewereanti-nationalelementsorex-tremistsin theuniversity.AllI didwashigh-lightirregularities. Rohith wouldhave beenaliveif theyaddressedmyconcerns,Raosaid.

Ina four-pageletter,dated November17,2014,Raowrote:...Duringthepastfouryears

(underthepresentV-C),severalstudentsbe-longing to themarginalisedcommunitiesfromTelangana regionhavecommittedsui-cideintheuniversityduetoallegedcastedis-crimination. Fact-finding committeescon-stitutedby theuniversityheld V-Cand theuniversityadministration responsiblefor thesuicides.

Sevenstudentsendedtheirlivesin threesemesters. There wasalsoa rapeanda kid-napattemptat theuniversity,he hadsaid.

Irani,significantly,pickedon thispointtosaythattheCongressMPsaidthatthisprob-lempersistedforfouryears.If they(Congress)hadfixedtheproblemfouryearsago,perhapsRohithslife couldhavebeen saved.

Inhisletter,Raohad alsoclaimedthathehadreceived complaintsof allegedirregulari-tiesintherecruitmentoffacultymembers.HehaddemandedaCBIandCVCprobeintotheseallegations.HehadalsopointedatHCUsslideinthe NationalAssessmentand AccreditationCouncilrankings.

Raohadalsospokenaboutakissforloveevent onthe campus,calling ita shameful

andobsceneincident.

Had flaggedsuicides, Iranitwisting facts,

saysCongMP

LIZMATHEW

NEWDELHI,JANUARY20

WITHITS Dalit leaders speakingup anditsattempt to highlight Dalitstudent RohithVemulaassomeonewhosupportedterror-ism finding few echoes, the BJP onWednesdaywent intodamage controlmode.

Sources saidthe growingprotests fromthestudentcommunityandthe anguishex-pressedbyDalitleaders,includingthe partysownMPs,cameup forinformaldiscussionsattheCabinetmeeting.Party sourcessaiditwasPrimeMinisterNarendraModiwho sug-gested thatUnionministers Smriti Irani,Thaawarchand Gehlot and NirmalaSitharaman should address a pressconfer-enceclarifying thegovernments standonthematter.

Atthe pressconference,Irani repeatedlysaidthesuicideof theyoungresearchscholar

onthe HyderabadCentralUniversity cam-puswasnotacastebattle.Sheclaimedthattheprotestswerebeingmisrepresentedwithmaliciousintentas a Dalitvs non-Dalitconfrontation forpoliticalgain.However,shedidnotreplyto questionsontheBJP lead-ersallegationsthat Rohithwasindulginginanti-nationalactivitiesinsidethe campus.

BJPhad earlier saidthat the contextofthe clash between student groups wasRohithsstand in supportof terrorism,in-cluding thatagainstthe hanging of YakubMemon.However,Dalit leaders, includingthree MPsbelongingto theBJP,tookstrongexception to Rohiths activities beingbrandedas anti-national.

OnTuesday,partyleadersat theBJPhead-quarters maintainedthat whateveractionwastaken againstRohithwas againsthis al-legedanti-national activities.On Wednesday,they argued thatthe entire episode lookedlikea conspiracyagainst theBJP.

Beforeeveryelection,therewill bea de-bate onintolerance. Before Delhielections,churches were attacked andtherewerea

numberof incidentsin whichDalitsbecamevictimsahead ofBihar polls.Therewere fab-ricatedproteststooto maligntheBJP. Whenthetruth came outon theseissues, every-onewassilent,saidparty secretaryShrikantSharma.

He alleged that the latest campaignagainstthe BJPwas a conspiracyto dam-ageits chancesinthe run-upto theGreaterHyderabadMunicipalCorporationelections,scheduledfor nextmonth.Pointingout thatthereweresuicidesby Dalitstudentson thecampusearliertooonein2008andtwoin2013 Sharmasaid,Nooneevensentacondolence messagethen.

Withsources claiming thatDalit partyleadersfromdifferent stateshad expressedtheirdispleasureaboutthewaytheBJP re-actedto theincident, there seemedtobe aclear shift inthe responseto thecrisis onWednesday.

SpeakingtoTheIndianExpressTuesday,BJP

leaderSanjayPaswan,partyMPsSunilBaliramGaikwad (Latur), Ramesh Chandappa

Jigajinag (Bijapur, Karnataka) and AshokKumarDohrey(Etawah)haddisapprovedthebrandingof Rohithsprotestsas anti-national.PaswanandGaikwadhadalsosoughtastate-mentfromthe PrimeMinisteron theissue.

Whenasked abouttheirdemand, Iranirepeatedthat thegovernmentjustwantedtoclarify thatthefactsweremisconstruedandmisrepresentedtoignitepassionsandthatit wasnota casteissueatall.

Butthepressconferencefailedto satisfythepartysDalit leaders.Theinterpretationgiven by the party in the incident waswrong,admitteda UnionMinister.

Ifthepartydoesnotdodamagecontrol,more DalitMPs will come outandspeak.Ofthe84DalitMPs,theBJPhas39...Theyfeelthatthey arealways considered a votebank, butneveras thought-bank,saida party leader.SourcesinthepartyadmittedthattheanguishamongtheDalitleadersmightacquiresignif-icancegiventhe run-up tothe spring-sum-merAssemblyelectionsin fivestates.

Its Dalit leaders restive,

BJP calls it conspiracy

SREENIVASJANYALA

HYDERABAD,JANUARY20

BEFORE HE committedsuicideon January17, Rohith Chakravarthi Vemula wassummoned bythe police andhad receivedan ultimatum from the warden to leavethehostel.

The 26-year-old had received a letterfromtheSub-InspectorofGachibowlipolicestation,datedNovember5, summoninghimtorecordhis statement inconnectionwiththe complaint lodged by ABVP leaderNandanamSusheelKumar.

OnDecember18,he receivedanotherlet-terthistimefromthewardenof themenshostelsJ andK.

Theletter,addressedtoRohith,menshos-telJ,roomno45,read:Thisiswithreference

totheletterdatedDecember17receivedfromtheoffice ofthe Chief Wardenregardingva-

cating the hostel room immediately.Therefore,youaredirectedto clearyourmessduesofRs9,482andvacatetheroomby4pmofDecember18...Failingwhichnecessaryac-tionshallbe taken inthis case.Pleasetreatthisas mosturgent.

Replyingto theletterfrom police,Rohithsaid:IdenytheallegationsmadebySusheelKumarwhicharefalse.Ihumblyrequestyounotto proceedagainstme becauseI willbeaffectedundulyforappearinginthecaseandmycareerwillbespoilt. I belongto SCcom-munityandimplicatingme ina criminalof-fenceamountsto atrocityon anSC person.

Rohithwasscaredthatpolice wantedtodetainorarresthimand,therefore,hadsum-monedhim tothe police stationinsteadofvisitingtheuniversitytorecord hisstatement.

Whenhisroomwas sealedon December18,Rohithmovedhisbelongingstoafriends

room and the five suspended studentssought permission touse theroomstillthenextcourt hearingon January18.

Thewardendid notagree, butthestu-dentscontinuedtoliveinfriendsroomsun-tiltheywere asked toleavethe hostelon

January4.Rohithwasundertremendousstressbe-

cause hehad toborrow moneyto paythemessbill.HeshotoffanangrylettertotheV-Cand thenbecamewithdrawn,hisfriendSMunnasaid.

On January 17, Rohith lamented beforehisfriendsC Ramji,S Munna,P VijayKumarandD Prashanththat hewas literally home-less.Hethenwenttohisfriendsroom,wrotea suicidenoteandhangedhimself.

Meanwhile,doubts regarding Rohiths

caste havebeen puttorest.A certificate issued by the Revenue

Department of Government of AndhraPradeshon June16, 2015,clearly statesthathebelongsto Mala(SC)community.

The community, nativity and Date ofBirthcertificatein thenameof VemulaRohitChakravarthi was issued by Tehsildar ofGuntur(Urban).

It alsomentions Rohithsfathers nameVemulaNagaMani Kumar.

Rohith hadapplied forit fortwo reasons.OnewasthatonMay4, 2015,theAndhragov-ernmentissued an orderthat a community,nativityandDOBcertificateissuedinnew for-matfromMeesevaCentreswouldbetreatedasa permanentoneandtherewasno needtoobtainfresh certificatesrepeatedly.

Thiscertificatecanbeusedforscholarshipsandfee reimbursementand whileapplying

forstategovernmentjobs,the ordersaid.Theorderspecifically statesthatstate

government organizations /departments/state PSUsshallacceptcopiesof theperma-nent integrated certificates issued byTehsildharsthroughMeeseva andnot insistonanyotherformatof castestatus.

Thecertificateclearlystates hiscaste asMala(SC), anofficialsaid.

Theother reasonwhy Rohithappliedforthecertificate wasdue tobifurcation of thestate andtheneed tohavea nativitycertifi-cate incase those livingin Hyderabad, nowinTelangana,needto gobacktotheirnativeplacesin AndhraPradeshfor workor higherstudies.

Rohithwantedto applyfor fellowshipsandscholarshipsafter completingPhD.Thatwasalsoa reasonbehind getting thecertifi-cate,his friendsaid.

HanumanthaRao

MANEESHCHHIBBER&

ASHUTOSHBHARDWAJ

NEWDELHI,JANUARY20

MINISTEROF StateBandaru DattatreyaandHyderabad UniversityVice-Chancellor PAppaRao,namedinan FIRregisteredbypo-

licefollowingthe suicide by DalitstudentRohithVemula,couldhavebeenarrestedhadtheCentrenotifiedtheScheduledCastesandthe Scheduled Tribes (Prevention ofAtrocities)AmendmentBill, 2015.

Theoffencesforwhichtheyhavebeenbooked arecognisable andnon-bailable, andallow a policeofficerinvestigatingthe casetoarrestthemwithoutawarrant.Buttheamend-ments havenot becomepart ofthe lawsofar.

TheBill, which providesfor stringentpunishmenttoanyonefoundguiltyof crimesagainstapersonbelongingtotheScheduledCastesand/orScheduledTribes,was grantedassentby President PranabMukherjeeon

January1.Butit hasnotbeennotifiedbytheMinistryof SocialJusticeand Empowermentsince rulesgoverning theamendedlawarestillto befinalised.

We aretryingto finalisetherules now.Hopefully, thenewActwillcomeintoeffectbytheendof thismonth.Asoftoday,theoldAct,withoutthe amendments,remainsin

force. Since thecase againstthe minister(Dattatreya)and otherswas filedbefore theamendmentstakeeffect,itwillbe triedundertheold law,a governmentfunctionary said.

Theamendments,once giveneffect,willwidenthe scopeand definition of offencesthatcanbe heldto have beencommittedagainstSCs andSTs,addingseveral newof-fencesto thelist.

Amongthenewoffencesaddedtothelawaregarlandinga SC/STpersonwithfootwear,institutingfalse, malicious or vexatious suitorcriminalor otherlegalproceedingsagainsta SC/ST member, givingfalse orfrivolous in-formationto anypublicservantand therebycausingsuchpublicservantto usehis lawfulpowertotheinjuryorannoyanceof amem-

berof aSC/ST,attemptingto promotefeelingsof ill-will againstSCs or STs, imposingorthreateninga socialor economicboycott.

Legal expertssay many ofthese chargescould have beenpressed againsttheminis-terandothers hadtheamended law beennotified.

Preventinga Dalitfromenteringaplaceof

worship,usingcommonpropertyresourcesandenteringan educationor healthinstitu-tionare alsooffences under thenew law. Italsodefineswhatconstitutes wilfulnegli-genceby public servants, somethingthatwouldattract penalprovisions. Theseincludea policeofficernotregistering anFIR undertheAct or notregistering theFIR under theappropriate sectionsof theAct.

Theamendedlaw alsoprovides forset-ting up of Special Courts and ExclusiveSpecialCourtstodecidecasesunder it.

Incidentally,just before itwent topolls,the previousUPAgovernmenthad promul-gated the Scheduled Castes and theScheduled Tribes(Prevention of Atrocities)AmendmentOrdinancebut theModi gov-ernmentallowedtheordinancetolapse,de-ciding insteadto introducea Billto thisef-fectin Parliament.

WhileLokSabhapassedtheamendmentsonAugust4 lastyearwithoutdiscussion,theRajyaSabhapassedit onDecember21.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE

NEWDELHI,JANUARY20

NOTING THAT thesuicide of DalitstudentRohithVemulamightwellbeaturningpointinIndiashistory,DalitscholarsonWednesdaylaidout ninedemandsand askedthe centralgovernmenttomeetthem immediately.

TheydemandedRs5crorecompensationtoVemulasfamily,governmentjobto hiskin,a home forhisfamily,revocationof suspen-sionofthefourDalitscholarsandinitiatecrim-inalproceedingsagainstHyderabad CentralUniversity V-CP AppaRao, Union ministerBandaruDattatreyaand otherswho areal-

readyfacinganFIRunderSC/STPreventionofAtrocitiesAct.Theydemandedthe removalofDattatreyafrom thecabinet,BJP legislatorRamachandra Raofrom thelegislativecoun-cil,and removalof V-C AppaRao andprofes-sorPanduReddy fromtheuniversity.

Addressing a pressconferencein Delhi,

AshokBharti, chairpersonof the National

Confederation of DalitOrganisations,saidVemulassuicide hasshook thenationandexpressed hope that itbecomes a turningpoint inthe countryshistory.For thefirsttimea large numberof uppercaste personshave come forward to support the Dalitcause,he said.

Former cabinetsecretary andex-chair-personof SC/ST commissionP S Krishnansaidthatin Hyderabad,upper castesarealsoonthe streets,notingthatkuchanhoniho

gayi(a misfortune hastaken place).Thespeakersinsistedthat ifthe anger

amongpublicafterVemulassuicideis trans-latedintopositive action, itcanbringa hugechange inthe mentality of people towardsDalits.Krishnansaid: Theharassment ofDalits hasbeen goingon forcenturies.Somepeopleareafraidof theriseof Dalits.Such in-cidents(Vemulassuicide)are aresultof suchfears. ButDalitsare notanti-national. Theyhave nootherplacetoliveexcept India.Heurgedfor theformationof anindependent

bodyineveryuniversitytoaddressthegriev-ancesof Dalits.

Bharticitedgovernmentfiguresandsaidthatfrom1991-2014over 13,750Dalitshavebeen murdered,27,017 Dalitwomen rapedas 6,74,619cases of atrocitieson Dalitswereregistered.

ABANTIKAGHOSH

NEWDELHI,JANUARY20

HYDERABADMPAsaduddinOwaisihassaidattempts toprojectRohithVemula theDalit student of Hyderabad CentralUniversitywho committed suicideafterbe-ingpunished bythe varsityadministration as ananti-nationalby citing hisstanceon YakubMemonsexecutionis theNDAgovernments wayof sendinga message toanti-Hindutvaforces.He alsoclaimedthatcasteistdiscriminationhasbeen arealityontheHCUcampusforyears.

Thisis a caseof purehounding,a bogeythattheNDAgovernmenthaserected topaintRohithas anti-national. Theywant tosend a

messageto allanti-Hindutvaand anti-ABVPforces.The proctoralreport makesno men-tionof YakubMemon. AmbedkarStudentsAssociation (ASA) wantedto screena docu-mentary on Muzaffarnagar (riots) andtheoutfit clashed withABVPwhen itopposedthe screening.ASA hadquoted Ambedkar

againstcapital punishment.Itis obnoxious thatBJP isnowprojectinghim as ananti-national to absolvethemselves onthe issueofdiscrimination againstDalits, saidOwaisi,who isalsothe AIMIMchief.

Thenarrative,he added,ispart of a larger discrimi-natory environmentagainstDalitsand Muslims.If it is a Muslim, shootthemandbrandthemanISIelementor simply sayhewasa violent man. Thesametreatment ismetedout toDalits inthiscountry,he said.

Owaisiwas oneofthe politicianswho vis-

itedHCUin thewakeof thesuicide.He mettheprotestingstudentsandRohithsmother.

Iam shockedto seeBJPusing a suicidenoteas a politicaltool tojustifywhathap-pened.Onecanwinalegalcasebysuchcoldmethods,buthowcanyouwin a moralar-gument? Besides, whatabout theletter to

the V-C where he asked forpoisonor a long rope? Theis-sueis caste.Aninquirycom-mission set up some yearsback found thatthere wasanenvironment of discrimina-tionin thevarsityand thereare inherent biases. In thiscase, the matter was com-poundedbecause Rohithwasideologicallyopposed toBJP,Owaisi said. He demandedimmediatesackingof theHCUvice-chancellor.

Owaisialsodefendedvisitsby leadersfrom variouspoliticalpartiessomethingtherulingBJPhasstronglycriticised.Statingthatthevisitswerealegitimatewayof

electedrepresentativestovoicetheirconcern,hequestioned:Whatiswrongin itif itendsdiscrimination,resultsin Dalituplift?

Tilla fewyears back, theuniversity cameunderthe HyderabadLokSabha constituency,currentlyrepresentedbyOwaisi.Afterdelim-itation,it isnow ina differentsegment.

Had new SC law been notified, itwould have gotminister, V-C in net

Studentsat theprotestsite inHyderabadonWednesday.AP

By calling Rohith anti-national, BJP tryingto sendmessage to anti-Hindutva forces

MinisterBandaruDattatreyaandVice-ChancellorP AppaRao

AIMIMleaderAsaduddinOwaisi.HerepresentsHyderabadinLok Sabha

ITSATURNINGPOINT

Dalit scholarsmake9 demands, includingRs 5 cr relief, govt job forRohiths family

Rohithgotcallfromcops,noticefromhostelPolicesummoned himto record statement, hostelwardensent notice toclearhisduesof Rs9,482 andvacateroomby December18

Studentsprotest inPune.ArulHorizon

NewDelhi:Allegingthat governmentter-rorismforcedDalitscholarRohithVemulato commit suicide, BSP chiefMayawatisaidon WednesdaythatsecuringjusticefortheDalitcommunityisbecomingincreas-inglydif ficult.

Condemningthe behaviouroftwoseniorministersof theNarendraModigovernmentto-wardsVemula,shesaid:Thisbe-haviourthatif youare againstpolicies ofthe BJPgovernment,thenyouareourenemyandyouwouldbetortured

throughgovernmentterrorismis con-demnable andnon-democratic.

Contendingthat atrocitiesagainst certain communitieshave increasedafterthe Modicame to power, Mawayati saidthisgovernmenthas toleratedandencouragedsuchoffenders.

ShesaidthatithasbecomeclearthatBJPs mentality towardsDalits, backwardsand Muslimsiscruel, casteistand inhuman.

TheBSPhas senda five-memberdel-egationto Hyderabad.ENS

Govt terrorism forcedDalitscholar to commit suicide:Maya

Mayawati

2 LETTERS&DIFFERENCEIN

UNIVERSITYSRESPONSE

TheHyderabadCentralUniversityadministrationrepliedto lettersfromtheHRDMinistryoverissuesraisedbyUnionMinisterBandaruDattatreya,butis yettorespondtotheministrys letterson issuesraisedbyCongressMPHanumanthaRao.

TheHRDMinistrysentsevenletterson issuesraisedby RaotoHCUovera periodof 13months.

Ontheotherhand,fivelettersregardingDattatreyascommun-icationweresentin just4months.