Rohith Vemula

Rohith Chakravarthi Vemula (30 January 1989 – 17 January 2016) was an Indian PhD scholar at the University of Hyderabad. His death by suicide on 17 January 2016 drew attention to the alleged systemic discrimination imposed by the caste social hierarchies and enforced by state institutions, sparking widespread protests on various university campuses in India.

Vemula became involved in raising issues of caste injustice on campus under the banner of Ambedkar Students' Association (ASA), an Ambedkarite student organisation. In response, in July 2015 the university stopped paying his monthly stipend of (excluding HRA) with friends alleging that he was targeted involvement with the ASA.

A university official denied the allegation, blaming the delay instead on paperwork. On 5 August, the university set up an inquiry against Vemula and four other ASA members, two days after an assault on ABVP leader N. Susheel Kumar.

On 17 August, BJP MP and Union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya wrote to the HRD Minister urging action and claiming that the "Hyderabad University... has in the recent past, become a den of casteist, extremist and anti-national politics".

After a series of flip-flops, the five were suspended in September. On 17 December, the decision was upheld.

After confirmation of the suspension, Vemula committed suicide on 17 January 2016. Background and death Vemula was born on 30 January 1989 in Guntur district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh to Manikumar Vemula and Radhika Vemula. His father is from the Vaddera caste, classified as an Other Backward Class (OBC) in India's system of Reservations, and his mother is said to be from Mala community by birth, which is a Scheduled Caste, but was adopted by a Vaddera family.

A PhD scholar at the University of Hyderabad, in July 2015 the university reportedly stopped paying Vemula the fellowship of per month after he was "raising issues under the banner of Ambedkar Students Association (ASA)", though a university official denied the allegation of non-payment of scholarship, citing the delay on "paperwork." but stated that he was "roughed up by around 40 ASA members who barged into [his] room." hanging himself with an ASA banner. In his suicide note, he blamed the "system" for his death. The note also said:

Smriti Irani told the Lok Sabha that no doctor was allowed to help Vemula and that "Instead, his body was used as a political tool. No police was allowed till 6:30AM the following morning." However, the Chief Medical Officer of the university, M. Rajashree, denied that was the case.

Dattatreya was accused of being responsible for the suicide. According to Dattatreya's critics, his letter to the Education Minister, complaining about degraded student politics, had led to Vemula's suspension and ultimate suicide. Vemula's suicide letter did not blame anyone, and Dattatreya denied these allegations. After a complaint from students of the University of Hyderabad a police case was filed under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against Bandaru Dattatreya, Bharatiya Janata Party's MP from Secunderabad and Indian government's Minister of Labour and Employment; Ramachandra Rao (BJP MLC); and Appa Rao Podile (University of Hyderabad Vice-Chancellor).

Caste status controversy

Rohith had a Scheduled Caste certificate for Hyderabad University admission. After External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj claimed that Rohith Vemula was not a Dalit, a police investigation was started to determine his caste status. The case against Dattatreya, Rao and Podile was likely to collapse if Vemula was not a Dalit. and Vemula's uncle gave a statement to the police that Rohith's father was from that caste, which is classified as a Backward and non-scheduled caste in Andhra Pradesh.

The District Level Scrutiny Committee in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, which was reviewing the Dalit status of Rohith Vemula, submitted its final report to the government stating that neither Rohith nor his mother Radhika were Dalits. A video of Rohith Vemula's father Mani Kumar also stated in the documentary film that Radhika Vemula belonged to a Scheduled Caste. In Rajendra Shrivastava vs State of Maharashtra (2010), the question raised was this: "If a woman, who by birth belongs to a scheduled caste or a scheduled tribe marries a man belonging to a forward caste, whether on marriage she ceases to belong to the scheduled caste or the scheduled tribe?" The full bench of the Bombay high court relied on the constitution bench decision of the Supreme Court in the case of V.V. Giri vs D. Suri Dora (1959), where it was held that caste is acquired by birth and does not undergo a change by marriage or adoption.

On 14 April 2016, on Ambedkar Jayanti, Rohit Vemula's mother Radhika Vemula and brother Raja Vemula converted to Buddhism in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Rohith Vemula was cremated in a Buddhist manner. After the funeral, his brother Raja Vemula had said that Rohit had always been a humanitarian at heart. He believed in the compassion and humanity of Buddhism.

Reactions

His suicide sparked protests and outrage from across India and gained widespread media attention as an alleged case of discrimination against Dalits and low status castes in India, in which elite educational institutions have been purportedly seen as hotbeds of caste-based discrimination against students belonging to lower caste.

Rohith's suicide was described as "institutional murder" by Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati, The poet Ashok Vajpeyi returned his D.Litt. degree awarded to him by the University of Hyderabad in protest against the circumstances which led to the death of Vemula, for which Vajpeyi holds the university culpable.

An open letter was written to the vice-chancellor of the University of Hyderabad by over 120 academics around the world, protesting against the role of the university in the events.

Rohith's mother, Radhika Vemula fought to bring justice to the death of her son. She started 'Mothers for nation yatra' to protest her son's death.