Rohith Vemula: Remembered after death, ignored while alive

Had he been alive, Rohit Vemula would have turned 34 on January 30th. A youth full of zeal and enthusiasm would have completed his Ph.d and studying abroad. Another likelihood is that he would have emerged as a Bahujan Voice and his speeches would have permeated the social media platforms of the Bahujans.

But on this date, today, seven years ago, Rohith Vemula committed suicide. The circumstances that led to his death are still unknown today and believed to have kept under wraps on the directive of Ministry of Education ( then HRD ministry) that was headed by Smriti Irani.

Background

ABVP had attacked at the screening of the documentary Muzaffarnagar baqi hai in Kirorimal College in Delhi. The attack was widely condemned all over the country and protests were organized. Ambedkar Student Association staged demonstration at the University of Hyderabad campus. The protestors including Rohith Vemula were browbeaten by ABVP members and threatened. An ABVP member Nandanam Sushil Kumar called the protestors goons. In retaliation The ASA members are said to have confronted Susheel, who they said later tendered a written apology. But next day Sushil Kumar got admitted to hospital complaining of acute appendicitis alleging that he was roughed up by 40 members of the Ambedkar Students Association. ABVP members also wrote to the Secundarabad MP Dattatreya who forwarded the letter to Union Minister of HRD (Now Ministry of Education) Smriti Irani. The University expelled five students on including Rohith on 5th August 2022,but no action was taken against ABVP College unit President Nandanam Susheel Kumar.

Suspension of scholarship a hard blow

The decision was upheld on 17th December 2015 and consequently Rohith along with his friends was expelled from the hostel. What made the matters worse was suspension of the fellowship of Vemula, amounting to Rs 25 thousand which was a hard blow to him. With the poor financial condition of his family, forced Rohith to live in a makeshift tent erected outside the university premises. The tent settlement was named Velivada a Telugu word which translates to street of the outcaste. The conditions became unbearable and Rohith committed suicide on January 17th at the hostel room of his friend Umma Anna. His suicide note was heart-rending and moved everyone to tears “I am happy dead than being alive”, the letter read.

Massive protests across the nation

Unlike other suicides, this suicide was followed by massive protests across the country, one of the reason being, the intervention of the Human Resource Ministry that forced the university to expel five Dalit students from hostel and made them live in the open.

Intellectuals and the civil society condemned the incident targeting the Union government. Some 300 intellectuals and academicians issued a statement that read "We are disturbed by the pattern of growing nexus between student vigilante groups, youth wing of the ruling party (BJP), state and university authorities in colleges and university campuses across the country in order to mobilize the state machinery against vulnerable students."

Political parties lashed Centre

Rahul Gandhi who visited the campus after the death said “They say Rohit Vemula committed suicide. I call it murder. He was murdered by the indignities he suffered. He was killed because he was a Dalit”.

BSP supremo Mayawati said, “Owing to harassment by the union ministers and the university administration, Vemula committed suicide.” She also demanded legal action against Hyderabad Central University Vice Chancellor Appa Rao as well. The BSP also sent the then Rajya Sabha MP Vir Singh for fact-finding to Hyderabad.

Exposed discrimination at varsities

The debate generated by the suicide of Rohith was unprecedented. It exposed the highly discriminatory character of the universities in India. However, the government and the university managed to absolve itself of all charges, they were helped by the fact that Rohith did not blame anyone for his death “No one is responsible for this act of killing myself. No one has instigated me, whether by their acts or by their words to this act.” Further, the district-level committee declared that he was not a Dalit as his father was from Vaddera community but her mother, Radhika Vemula, belonged to Mala community; a fact revealed by Anjani Devi, foster mother of Radhika. Anjani died few days after revealing this truth.

Rohith no less than a martyr

Nonetheless, despite the controversy surrounding his caste Rohith has been etched in the memory of Ambedkarites. Over the last few years Rohith has acquired the status of a martyr. The statue erected in his memory inside the campus of University of Hyderabad draws crowd every year on his death anniversary. This year, Rohith Shahadath Diwas will be marked by the presence of Bhim Army Chief Chandra Shekhar Azad along with Radhika Vemula, Rohith's mother. On his death anniversary we can only hope that Rohith will inspire others by his life and not by his death.