UoH set for showdown with students over Rohith Vemula anniversaries

A showdown is building up at the University of Hyderabad as Dalit student groups prepare to observe the first anniversary of the suicide of research scholar Rhoth Vemula tomorrow, January 17.
Rohith Vemula
Rohith Vemula

HYDERABAD: A showdown is building up at the University of Hyderabad (UoH) as Dalit student groups prepare to observe the first anniversary of the suicide of research scholar Rohith Vemula tomorrow, January 17. Sources in the group said among the people who are expected to participate in the anniversary are several figures who have been part of 'anti-national' controversies over the past year.

Among them are the mother of JNU student Najeeb Ahmed, who has been missing from his campus for several months, Jaan Mohammed, brother of Mohammad Akhlaq the man who was lynched by a mob opposed to beef in September 2015, a few of the Dalits who were thrashed by cow vigilantes at Una in Gujarat last year, and the mother of Rohith Vemula.

The student group spearheading this anniversary initiative, calling itself the Joint Action Committee (JAC) for Social Justice - UOH has billed the anniversary Shahadat Din, as part of which they plan to mobilise students to gather at the Rohith Stupa built in memory of the deceased research scholar.

However, UoH authorities said no permission for the events has been sought."Through newspapers we have come to know about the Shahadat Din programme. They have not sought any permission from university officials," UoH pro vice-chancellor Prof Vipin Srivastava said.
"If they go ahead with their programmes it will be unofficial," he said.

Since the controversy of last year, the university has clamped a ban on the entry of outsiders, political parties, media personnel and social/student groups into the premises.

The Dalit student groups seemed keen to force a showdown with the authorities yet again. "We will gather at the Rohith Stupa. And we will garland Vemula's portraits in all hostels," said one of the organisers.

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