HYDERABAD: Rohith Vemula’s suicide served to spread awareness of Dalit identity issues nationwide, but on the campus of the University of Hyderabad itself, the student groups that came together to participate in the movement have since been riven by differences and have drifted apart.
With Dalit student organisations divided, it is the left and right wing organisations that dominate campus politics. This was amply evident in the UoH students union elections held after Vemula's suicide.
The suicide brought together student organisations - except ABVP -- under one umbrella to steer the protests. However, when it came to the elections, differences between the Left and Ambedkarite ideologies and among Dalit student groups themselves came to the fore.
In the aftermath of the suicide, the Students Federation of India (SFI) and the Ambedkar Students Association (ASA) -- to which Rohith Vemula belonged -- came together with the Dalit Students Union (DSU), Tribal Students Forum (TSF) and Bahujan Students Front (BSF) to form a Joint Action Committee for Social Justice. It was very active on social media and organised visits of political personalities to the campus.
However, once the students union elections were announced, the JAC disintegrated. While SFI and ABVP maintained their voters in the polls, groups representing students from SC, ST and OBC communities were divided. The DSU, BSF and TSF could not come to an understanding with the ASA and chose to align with the SFI.
The ASA contested the elections in tandem with the Congress-backed National Students Union of India (NSUI) -- which has only a negligible presence in UoH - and fielded Vijay Kumar Pedapudi, one of the Dalit scholars who had been suspended along with Rohith Vemula, for the president’s post. The United OBC Forum on the other hand allied with the ABVP.
The outpouring of support seen on campus for the five suspended Dalit scholars -- Rohith Vemula, Dontha Prashanth, C Seshaiah, Vijay Kumar Pedapudi and V Sunkanna -- did not result in electoral support for the ASA-NSUI combine and it failed to win a single post whereas the SFI-TSF-BSF-DSU coalition won handsomely.
The Rohith Vemula suicide had implications for the faculty of UoH too. The debate on caste discrimination left it deeply divided. While one group came out openly against vice-chancellor Appa Rao Podile, another group maintained silent support for the VC.
The SC/ST Faculty Forum of UoH demanded the resignation of Appa Rao until he clears his name from charges framed against him under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act. Members of the forum even stepped down from their positions, and were joined by teachers from other social groups.
However, many members of the University of Hyderabad Teachers Association continued their support for Podile and the riot at the VC’s lodge in March -- some faculty members were left holed up in the VC's lodge for a few hours - only cemented that support.
The non-teaching staff of the university too were inclined towards the VC. After the riot, the non-teaching staff went on a strike which resulted in a shutdown of the hostel messes and stoppage of power and water supply.