Radhika Vemula and HCU students arrested on Rohith Shahadath Din

At about 8 p.m. on the night of January 17, the first anniversary of the date of Dalit Research scholar, Rohith Vemula's "institutional murder" a callous Telangana police detained his mother Radhika Vemula, who had expressed her wish to pay homage at the Veliwada within the University of Hyderabad Campus.

This Video caputured by Dalit Camera shows the progress of events
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Even as students at the University of Hyderabad (UoH) had planned to hold a largescale protest on January 17, commemorating the death anniversary of Rohith Vemula, the university administration had told the media that it will not let them go ahead with their plans.

Pro-VC Vipin Srivastava, said, "It is our prerogative as to who we can let inside the campus and who we can't. We will take a decision based on the law and order situation. If they refuse to comply, we also have a High Court order."

The Hyderabad High Court, in an interim order in April last year, directed the registrar and the police commissioner not to allow any political party or association to hold a meeting on the university premises. The ban has since extended to the media, and 'outsiders' too.

"We will try to control the situation as much as possible with our own campus security. However, if we are unable to do it, we will call for additional help," he said, when asked if the police would be deployed outside campus.

This comes a day after Radhika Vemula, Rohith's mother, released a video calling for support on Rohith's 'Shahadat Din' to enter the campus.

"Ever since Rohith's death, I have been taking part in several protests and meetings across the country for Dalit unity. Now, I am asking you all to come to Hyderabad on January 17, to join me at Rohith's stupa and pay our respects. Me and Raja (Rohith's brother) are not being allowed into the University since the last eight months.
They have imprisoned Rohith's stupa. So, I request you all to come along and help me reach the stupa. It has been my desire for a long time now.  I am counting on you all. You will come, will you not? Jai Bheem," she said.

When asked about Radhika's statement, Vipin Srivastava said, "Officially, we have not received a request or granted permission for any such event."
However, the students remain determined in their demand.

"When VC Appa Rao's son can come inside the university legitimately and use facilities of the campus, no one is seen asking for permission. When the ABVP is allowed to organise programs and invite nonsensical guests to the campus, why can't the university allow Radhika Vemula, whose son was a student, and was institutionally murdered, into the campus?" Dontha Prashanth, one of the five students suspended with Vemula asked.
From 9am onwards on Tuesday, the students planned to garland various portraits of Vemula in all hostels on the campus. At 2pm, they had planned to take out a 'remembrance rally', following which they plan to occupy the 'velivada' on campus at around 3 30 pm.
 
 Till late evening the university administration remained adamant. Frontline journalist Kunal Shekhar was also detained for "trespass." The UoH has been converted into a fortress with severe regulations on entry.

The post Radhika Vemula Detained by Police at HCU, VC Refuses Her Right to Pay Homage appeared first on SabrangIndia.

In August 2015, when students from the Ambedkar Student Association (ASA) at the University of Hyderabad (UoH) had a skirmish with a leader of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), little did they realise that their lives would never be the same again.

Following allegations of assault by the ABVP leader, the events that unfolded, including letters to and from two Union Ministers, saw the suspension of five Dalit students from the varsity. 

One of them, 26-year-old Rohith Vemula, would go on to pen a moving suicide note, before hanging himself in a hostel room, thereby sparking a massive Dalit youth movement across the country.

A year after his death, Dontha Prashanth, Seshaiah Chemudugunta, Vijay Pedapudi and Sunkanna Velpula, the four students who were suspended with Rohith, speak to TNM about life after his death, and how things have changed for them over the past year.

Outlining how all of them have cried themselves hoarse, demanding justice and equality, there is a sense that they are disheartened, but still remain resolute in their demands.

While three of them are still at the university completing their education, Sunkanna is now working in IIT Bombay as a post-doctoral fellow.

(Clockwise from left: Seshaiah, Vijay, Sunkanna and Prashanth)

Dontha Prashanth
I don't think we are any closer to justice than we were a year ago. The battle is longer, and we have to fight it out.

Rohith was a spirited and committed Ambedkarite. He was always the one who would constantly push you to take action. He always wanted to be present at the scene. He would write on every issue that was close to his heart, and he had no inhibitions about making his opinions public.

I miss those days of the struggle when we fought together, organizing protests, speaking out, and always standing up for what we felt was right.

It has not been a smooth year for us. We have been fighting against big people, heading ministries and institutions, who have complete government backing.

However, there are two sides to it. On one hand, our biggest hope was that 2016 witnessed a major awakening of Dalits. We came to the streets and fought for rights, despite countless accounts of backlash from the state and certain sections of the public.

The concern for individual rights has clearly grown among the youth, and they showed that they will fight their own battle.

On the other hand, we experienced injustice in its worst form, while battling harassment and discrimination. Even though the general public is with us, we have a tough time because we have taken on people in power, from the university administration to the government.

One thing has become clear to me as far as how these things work out. Look at the machinery involved. A person gets instituted by the BJP. When his authority is questioned, he gets support from union ministers to the Prime Minister. A case is filed against him, but still it makes no headway, clearly because there is pressure on the police.

In return, there are four or five cases slapped on the people who are fighting. They think that they can bring down our morale through this, but given the ultimate sacrifice that one has seen through Rohith, we will not stop fighting.

When people in remote villages can organise and fight against caste oppression, we, being in institutions of education have to speak up on the issue.

As far as justice is concerned, as Ambedkarites, we believe in constitutional methods. Those methods can only be implemented when people who believe in those same values, govern. 

With the institution led by casteist individuals and the country being headed by a person like Narendra Modi, there is not much hope. There is also constant state repression.

Despite all this, we won't step back from our fight and will continue our struggle for justice.

Seshaiah Chemudugunta
Not much has changed over the past year. The one good takeaway, is that the Ambedkar movement has spread across the nation following Rohith's death. 

I miss Rohith's intellectualism the most, especially his writings. I loved the things that he wrote and the way he criticised several things from the caste system to certain ideologies in society.

On a personal level, I miss the days when we all used to gather together in a room to eat beef, mutton and chicken biryani. We used to do it at least two or three times a week. After his death, those meals are not the same anymore. 

I have no hopes of justice presently, especially from an administration that considers his killer a 'science genius', and awards him for it.

The legal system also seems to be failing us, as the police are not taking the case forward citing some reason or the other, while it seems like a clear case of pressure from the top.

Rohith became a symbol of discrimination, but the root cause is far from solved. There are still many people like him, fighting the system and fighting injustice, and until that issue is addressed, our fight is far from over.

Sunkanna Velpula
When Rohith died, a mother lost her son, on whom she had her hopes and future aspirations pinned. We on the other hand, lost a true friend and a real Ambedkarite.

A face like Rohith's was lacking for the Dalit community, and his death really brought out one of the biggest Dalit movements since the independence of India.

However, I'm personally disheartened as nothing happened. We could not even shake the government. The entire system, whether it is the law, the police or the state, I realized that we can't even scratch the surface.
There have been many incidents of injustice to Dalits in the past across the country and also in Andhra Pradesh. In most of these cases, later justice is denied. We are suffering the same fate. We put a lot of effort, and put everything aside in the fight for justice, but there has been no change.

There is only one reason for this, and that's because caste is political. When the BJP and other political parties talk about the Dalits, and take sides or a particular stand, they're only looking at them like a voter base. 

As long as this mindset remains among the parties, of treating minorities purely as voters, there can be no real change that we can witness.

However, we will continue our struggle and continue to fight. We have no other option but to fight.

Vijay Pedupudi
What I miss most about Rohith, is the ideology that he portrayed and his enthusiasm for everything and every topic. People like him are much needed today for the Dalit society. 

We ourselves have been fighting with the inspiration that Rohith gave us, and what he stood for has become a common cause for many of us today.

I only wish that Rohith was with us today, to fight with us, along our side, but unfortunately he has left us and gone.

I don't even see an inkling of hope that we will get justice. The Centre is not ready to punish anyone involved in the case. Instead, it goes one step further to actually award the accused. It is an act that disrespects the constitution of this country.

There is only one message that such an act gives out. It is that the ruling government is not going to hear your voice and just wants dissenters to shut up.

I don't even have hope on the judiciary and the police, because the state government is also not taking any further action. The case is not even coming up for hearing in the High Court. 

However, we are fighting with hope, and our goal is to take the movement further, so it reaches the minds of the people and finally the government, which is when real change will happen.

Courtesy: The News Minute
 

The post ‘Fight is far from over’: Students suspended with Rohith Vemula, speak a year after his suicide appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The death of Rohith Vemula, a PhD scholar, at the Hyderabad Central University shook the country on January 2016. It was a loss of a brilliant child to his mother and loss of an intellectual to his community. ‘My birth is my fatal accident’is what he wrote in his suicide letter, the meaning of these words can only be understood by one who did not want him/her to be what he wrote in the same letter “be reduced to his immediate identity and nearest possibility”. Further, he writes “Never was a man treated as a mind”, illustrates the injustice being done historically by the country on the Dalit’s by treating them as slaves and behaving with them as worst as possible.

On 18^th of December 2015, a letter was written to the Vice Chancellor of the University by the scholar asking VC to fulfil the following demands as a solution for the Dalit problems. He said “Please serve 10mg Sodium Azide to all the Dalit students at the time of admission. With direction to use when they feel like reading Ambedkar and supply a nice rope to the rooms of all Dalit students”. Further, he requested for a facility of “EUTHANASIA” for a student like him. This letter was written exactly 30 days before he committed suicide. Any sensible person could have taken such a letter with utmost urgency but the VC of UoH did not take it. On 17^th of January 2016, the scholar committed suicide on the campus of the same university where he came with a hope of avoiding what he wrote in his letter “…unappreciated child of my past.”

Death, Politics and aftermath
The death of this scholar would have been avoided, it was not inevitable. The scholar, who was an active member of Ambedkar Student Association in the campus, protested against the disruption of film screening titled “Muzaffarnagar Baaqi Hai”- the film which showed violence which took place against Muslims in the Muzaffarnagar district of UP, in 2013. One Mr Susheel K, a student of UoH, who was the president of university’s ABVP unit put up a post on Facebook regarding the protest terming it as “Hooliganism of ASA goons” along with an emoticon with a caption “feeling funny”.

A detailed report published in Caravan showed how Mr Susheel comes from a politically elite background, his uncle Mr Diwakar is the BJP’s vice president of Ranga Reddy District, and his brother Mr Vishnudath, a member of BJP’s Yuva Morcha. Rohith and others had asked Susheel to apologise for his post on Facebook after some debate susheel went to the hospital and got him admitted claiming that he was manhandled by the ASA members which was a blatant lie later confirmed by the proctorial board of the university. Then he again lied saying his appendicitis got worse due to the beating of ASA member but this was also proved false by the hospital authority later confirmed by Hyberabad’s commissioner of police.

Mr Diwakar then wrote a letter to Mr Bandaru Dattareye the MoS-Labour, who in turn wrote a letter to Mrs Smriti Irani, the then Union Minister for HRD highlighting the anti-national and casteist activity being undertaken on the university campus by the ASA members. And then series of the letter issued from MHRD to University to provide an update on the issue. Finally, Rohith along with four other members of ASA was suspended and was asked to not to use hostel and other public spaces in the university. Rohith was a JRF scholar and got admission in PhD in general merit list in a central university shows his brilliance.

After his death, student associations across the university campuses, civil society, intellectuals showed solidarity with his family and Ambedkar Student Association (ASA) and protested against the so-called ‘patriotic state’ led by the ‘patriotic-developmental oriented political party’.Despite heavy criticism from public spaces and intellectual circles, Prime Minister Modi made sure that Mrs Smriti Irani and Mr Bandaru Dattareye should continue with their posts. A number of false statements were being made especially in parliament and in public by Mrs Irani herself to protect the vice-chancellor who himself have a poor record of handling Dalit issues, the ABVP unit of UoH and herself.

The question on Rohith’s caste were also raised (as his father was an OBC) to avoid the casteist stand taken up by the University administration and by the State itself despite the fact that National Commission for Scheduled Caste (NCSC) confirmed him as a member of scheduled caste community on the basis of evidence provided by the Guntur’s district collector Mr Kantilal Dande who according to the law is the final authority on the issue.

Finally, in order to prove her superiority over law, Mrs Irani appointed a one-man committee headed by former Allahabad high court judge Mr AK Roopanval who claimed that Rohith committed suicide due to personal frustration and that he was not a member of Scheduled caste community. But, the stand Supreme Court has taken in past while deciding the caste of a child born out of inter-caste marriage was ignored. The Supreme Court has denied the proposition that a child should necessarily be taking a father’s caste which is in accord with Hindu law; on the contrary, it should be the individual’s experience that must be considered. Throughout his life, Rohith was treated as an untouchable by the society at large, and his experience was same as other Dalit individual’s faces in the country. If he doesn’t qualify, then no one could.

Had the Ministry of HRD instead of writing letters after letters done the work for which the ministry had been constituted i.e., providing quality education and making education accessible to all, had the government not appointed Casteist VC Appa Rao Podile- who expelled 10 Dalit student’s way back in 2000 when he was a warden, Had Modi taken an unbiased stand on the issue by inquiring the case instead of providing lip service of achieving goal of equal India envisage by Dr BR Ambedkar, the Velivada scholar could have got justice. Most recently, PM Modi has awarded vice- chancellor Appa RaoPodile with a “Millennium Plaque of Honour” award at the Indian Science Congress held in Tirupati.

Question of Equality
The death of this scholar has raised several questions to the society at large. Firstly, for how long are we going to consider a section of society as “impure” and would feel insulted if they try to come on par with others. Secondly, speaking at the Mahar conference in Bombay presidency on 31^st May 1986, in the context of rights Ambedkar argued “The law may guarantee various rights. But those alone can be called real rights, which are permitted by the society to be exercised by you (ex-untouchables). Have we the so called “modern civilised citizens of the most tolerant country in the world’ provided real rights to our own people? For how long are we going to undermine the aspirations of this oppressed mass by capturing and monopolising the resources by simply using the historical privileges? Are we never going to create a Social democracy- a way of life where liberty, equality and fraternity are the rules of the day?
And finally, Are the Dalit masses love this nation more than any section of society of our country because even after denying them a first class citizenship since ages, Dalit’s have still not demanded a separate nation for themselves which shows their love and respect for their nation and they have still not resorted to violence shows their respect toward constitutional machinery which has failed to protect and promote their rights. Here lies the greatest contradiction; those who are betrayed by the society at large are still living in the same land with a dream of India with Equality as its religion, liberty as its law and fraternity as its practice.

In his last speech at the constituent assembly, Dr BR. Ambedkar warned us against this inequality, he said “In politics, we will be recognising the principle of one man one vote and one vote one value. In our social and economic life, we shall, by the reason of our social and economic structure, continue to deny the principle of one man one value. How long shall we continue to live alife of contradictions? How long shall we continue to deny equality in our social and economic life? If we continue to deny it for long, we will do so only by putting our political democracy in peril. We must remove this contradiction at the earliest possible moment or else those who suffer from inequality will blow up the structure of political democracy which is assembly has to laboriously built up.” The death of this Velivada scholar is the result of our continuous denial of theprinciple of equality in our social and economic life, even, after 70 years of Independence.

The institution of caste has been systematically maintained in all spheres of life, especially in the private spheres. It has accommodated itself in the 21^stcentury; its expression has changed and has become more of an assertion.One of the major tool through which it was maintained in past – practice of endogamy- is still dividing the so called pure and impure. Instead of discarding the social institutions such as endogamy and child marriage, the majority have wholeheartedly accepted it as God’s word without knowing that these institutions were developed as a part of a tactic to maintain one’s caste purity. Even the Smritis and Shastraswhich are source of defending the notion of purity and pollution have been able to maintain the same authority as it was in ancient times. A specific culture is being passed on from generation to generation, the culture of maintaining the identity of superiority. The death of this scholar is a result of this culture and the notion of purity and pollution.

Conclusion
Ultimately, this scholar was doing what Savitri Bai Phule has asked all the oppressed to do “Sit idle no more, go, get an education,…You’ve got a golden chance to learn so learn and break the chains of caste.”Let’s allow all human being living on this land irrespective of his/ her caste, creed, religion and gender realize fullpotentials, and let’s not force them to choose violence over peace, and finally the community has lost one scholar let them make hundreds of more who will fight against an institution which according to Ambedkar is Anti-National which is institution of “Caste.”

The author is a Doctoral Candidate in the Humanities and Social Sciences Department of IIT-Madras.

Courtesy: India Resists

The post The Death of a “Velivada Scholar”- Rohith Vemula appeared first on SabrangIndia.

A fact finding report of reputed Indian scientists belonging to premier academic institutions has squarely blamed direct Central government interference in the autonomous functioning of the University of Hyderabad in exacerbating a conflict that has gone on uninterrupted from August 2015. “Direct interference by BJP’s central ministers and politicians in the running of the university” are one of the factors responsible. Senior scientists with various Indian institutions have conducted this detailed suo motu inquiry and released a report in early January.
 
Last year, in July 2016, Suvrat Raju, International Centre for Theoretical Sciences,  Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (Bengaluru), Prajval Shastri, Indian Institute of Astrophysics (Bengaluru) and Ravinder Banyal, Indian Institute of Astrophysics (Bengaluru)visited the University and conducted a detailed fact-finding which has resulted in the report.
 
Other key scientists who are signatories include Dileep Jatkar, Harish-Chandra Research Institute (Allahabad), Srikanth Sastry, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (Bengaluru), N. Raghavendra, Harish-Chandra Research Institute (Allahabad), Rahul Siddharthan,  Institute of Mathematical Sciences (Chennai), Saikat Ghosh, Indian Institute of Technology (Kanpur), Samriddhi Sankar Ray, International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (Bengaluru), Sandeep Krishna, National Centre for Biological Sciences,  Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (Bengaluru), Alladi Sitaram, formerly with the Indian Statistical Institute (Bengaluru), Bhanu Das, Tokyo Institute of Technology, formerly with Indian Institute of Astrophysics (Bengaluru), Sugata Ray,  Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (Kolkata) and Sumathi Rao, Harish-Chandra Research Institute (Allahabad). This is the first firm public articulation from the scientific community on the gross injustices that led to Dalit research scholar, Rohith Vemula’s death.

Among the key findings are one, that “the events at the University started with a relatively minor conflict between the Ambedkar Students Association and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). But the Ministry of Human Resource Development escalated the matter by writing five letters, in quick succession, to the University.  This is part of a disturbing trend where the central government has chosen to make partisan interventions in University student politics. 
 
“Second, the report finds that although the University of Hyderabad is a diverse institution, discrimination on the campus continues and in one of its most pernicious forms is disguised as a concern for "merit." This is part of a larger problem: reservations are not just about quotas, and a meaningful implementation of the reservation policy should include steps to combat discrimination in its myriad forms, and address the educational needs of a diverse student body.”

There are some key Suggestions made in the detailed report that can be read here.

University Administration Responsible for Conflict Leading to Rohith’s Death
The report states that “the University administration must accept a large portion of the responsibility for the current conflict. The University of Hyderabad is a diverse institution and many students on campus hold sharply diverging ideologies. So it is especially important for the administration to be non-partisan in its conduct. The administration must also ensure that members of the University are free to express themselves and pursue their ideas, and it should act as a shield when external political forces attempt to suppress student groups on campus. The administration has repeatedly failed to uphold these principles, from the time of the conflict between the ASA and ABVP students in August 2015. ”

The report goes on to analyse that the university administration further escalated the situation that it failed to keep a non-partisan view on.

“The initial conflict was a relatively minor dispute that could have been re- solved within the University. However, the administration succumbed to external political pressure, from BJP politicians and the central government, and repeatedly took partisan steps against ASA activists, including passing an extraordinary order that banned a set of ASA students from “common places in groups.”

Appa Rao Negligent and Insensitive
“Prof. Appa Rao himself failed to appreciate the significance of Mr. Rohith Vemula distressed letter in December 2015. In March, the admin- istration was complicit, either through its tacit approval or at least through March 28, 2016 inaction, in police brutality against protesting students. Subsequently, the ad- ministration failed to defuse tensions on campus, and instead suspended two dissenting faculty members on flimsy grounds.

“The administration cannot justify its actions by pointing to some hot-headed actions by the dissenting students. Rather, this conflict casts light upon some significant systemic weaknesses, including the unwillingness of academics involved in administration to stand up for principles against pressure from those in power. These issues go beyond individuals. Nevertheless, as the first step in a healing process, we feel that it would help greatly if Prof. Appa Rao Podile were to voluntarily step down from his position as vice chancellor. As the head of the administration, he must accept responsibility for its multiple failures.

“Moreover, it is important for academics to keep in mind that administrative posts are ultimately about service to the community. They are presumably not an end in itself and involve significant personal sacrifice, since they prevent an academic from doing his or her own work. As such, while members of the academic community are sometimes willing to put aside their academic careers to take on administrative responsibilities, this only makes sense if they are able to contribute to the institution in a constructive manner.

Appa Rao Must Go
“After having visited the University, and spoken to its members on both sides of this conflict, we do not see how Prof. Appa Rao can possibly contribute positively to the University in the current polarized atmosphere. His very presence as vice chancellor has led to a sustained conflict that has embarrassed the University. It is clear that Prof. Appa Rao cannot be forced to resign, as he continues to have the support of the central government. However, if his intention is genuinely to contribute to the welfare of the University, it is clear to us that he cannot do so while remaining as vice chancellor.

Withdraw All Cases Against Protesting Students and Faculty
“It is exceedingly important for the University to take steps to withdraw all cases against the protesting students and faculty. As far as we can see, the only actionable event that happened on 22 March pertained to vandalism of property in the vice chancellor’s house. No one was hurt in this process. Moreover, many of the students and faculty who were arrested were clearly not involved in that event. There is no excuse for a continuing police investigation that constitutes constant harassment of these students and faculty. The students who vandalized the vice chancellor’s house can be identified, and counselled in internal University proceedings. 


“It is also important for the University to ensure that action is taken against the policemen who used excessive force on the protesters on March 22. The University should support the cases filed by students and faculty on this issue, and ensure that a strong message is sent, through the courts, that this kind of police misbehaviour will not be tolerated. The dissenting students and faculty have made several grave allegations. Some police officers allegedly even told them that their fundamental rights had been suspended. The University should push for an internal inquiry against these officers, and ensure that they are disciplined if these allegations are found to be true.

Violent Police Officers Must Be Punished
“The behaviour of the police, and particularly the fact that they linked the dissenting students to “supporters of Pakistan” and characterized them as “anti- Hindu” and “pro-Muslim” is a symptom of the communal rot that has infected elements of our law-enforcing agencies. As a society, it is important for us to weed out these tendencies and ensure a sensitive and secular police force.

Universities Must Remain Immune to Govt Pressure
“It is important, in the future, for the University to strongly resist undue pressure from the central government. As the Ministry of Human Resource Development has itself pointed out, it has “no role to play in day to day affairs” of the University. Therefore, intrusive letters from the MHRD should be met with a firm reminder of this fact, and a refusal to share personal information about students or faculty, beyond what is publicly available 


Institute an Anti-Discrimination Cell at HCU
“It is important for the University to have a more comprehensive anti-discrimination cell. We understand that the University has appointed an anti-discrimination officer, and this is consistent with the relevant UGC regulations. But a larger anti-discrimination cell — with representations from students, and various faculty and non-teaching staff, and also representation from outside the University 
— would be significantly more effective. This cell should have the power to investigate complaints of discrimination even against members of the administration and its members should be easily accessible to the University community. Moreover, incoming students should be familiarized with the role of this cell, and the procedure to contact it. 


“The issue of the suspension of faculty members leads to a broader issue of academic freedom in Indian Universities. Some, although not all, academic institutes in India have incorporated the civil service rules of the government of India into their contracts for academic staff members. As we described above, these rules are anachronistic. It is not clear that they are appropriate even for bureaucrats, and they are certainly inappropriate for University teachers. For instance, it is obvious that University teachers should be at the forefront of 
critical-debate in society, but the civil service rules technically prohibit them from criticizing the government. Often, University employees are unaware of these rules. Administrations also do not implement them strictly, except in times of conflict when the precise wording of the rules is suddenly wielded as a weapon against recalcitrant faculty members.

“It is important for the broader academic community in India to formulate a new and appropriate set of guidelines to govern academic employees. These guidelines should make ample allowance for academic freedom and the freedom of speech that is crucial on a University campus. Of course, this change will not be easy, but unless the academic community initiates this debate on service rules, the status quo will continue.

“The broader issues in this conflict pertain to the manner in which the reservation policy is being implemented. The University of Hyderabad, on paper, is an excellent example of a diverse institution that has successfully implemented the letter of the policies on reservation. However this, by itself, does not imply the end of discrimination. Over the past several years, multiple students from Dalit and other minority communities have committed suicide at the University. This points to a pervasive problem that cannot be solved with small administrative tweaks.

“In fact, one of the objectives of a public institution of higher learning such as the University of Hyderabad is to provide educational opportunities for marginalized sections of the society. This is a small step towards combating injustice. So the University must take greater efforts to ensure a healthy social fabric on campus. As some of the University’s own documents note, it is important to have sensitization programs for administrators, faculty members and students. As we mentioned above, it is also important to have meaningful complaint mechanisms against discriminatory behaviour. The University can also help to promote inclusiveness by explicitly supporting social programs that celebrate diversity and encourage the intermingling of students from different backgrounds.

Recommend Structural Changes in Curriculum
“Apart from this, we feel that structural changes in the curriculum may also be beneficial. In fact we are glad that at least some members of the administration indicated that the University has, itself, been pushed to think along these lines.

“One possibility is to redesign both the M.Sc. and the PhD curriculum to allow for greater flexibility for students who come in with different levels of preparation. For instance, the M.Sc. course could be formally extended to three years, instead of two years, with the first year consisting of foundational courses. It is important that these foundational courses be mandated for all students. This is necessary to avoid stigmatization and the creation of a parallel stream for students who are admitted through a quota. Moreover, students who are admitted through the so-called “general category” also have widely varying levels of preparation, and many of them may benefit from these courses. On the other hand, to cater to students who are better prepared, the course structure should allow for the possibility of “drop tests”, where students can demonstrate their preparation and skip the foundational courses. A similar structure can be introduced at the PhD level. It is, of course, true that these flexible structures will require greater resources in teaching and research. But it is necessary for society to make this investment to redress persistent injustice.

“In the absence of such systemic reforms, the reservation policy simply continues discrimination in a hidden form. These shortcomings are not the result of oversight. Rather, efforts at meaningful reform of the reservation policy are confronted by powerful conservative political forces at each step. It is this broader societal contradiction — between those who seek to redress injustice and build a more egalitarian society, and those who have a vested interest in the status quo — that lies at the heart of the conflict at the University of Hyderabad. ”
 
 

The post Appa Rao Must Go, HCU Admin Guilty of Conflict Leading to Rohith’s Death: Scientists appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Image: PTI

In Post-Rohith Vemula’s Socio-Politico-Institutional Murder on January 17, 2016 and the subsequent Dalit-Bahujan Uprising across the country gave birth to many stooges who helped in suppressing the movement. Apparao Podile is one such stooge who is now being rewarded for the services to his masters in BJP. Let’s not forget that this man was chosen out of turn and by overlooking several eminent scholars. This was done by the Government clearly to suppress Dalit Student Assertions on the campus. It was only after Apparao took charge that things on the campus went on to precipitate. This has been a trend of Modi Government, appointing people out of turn and promoting stooges is nothing new to the BJP, as it has been seen in the out of turn appointment of the Army Chief, appointment of Chairman, FTII, and so on… The greatest tragedy about the conferring scientific award on apparao is that he is a disgrace to the spirit of scientific temper. He is not only a believer in the unscientific caste system but also is a proven plagiarist and a sub-standard scholar. Apparao Podile has been a disgrace to the scientific community.

What is more, he is also a poor administrator, as a fact finding report by a team of scientists clearly revealed. A Fact Finding Endorsed by some of the top scientists in the country, who were from Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Indian Institute of Technology (Kanpur), International Centre for Theoretical Sciences (Bengaluru), Harish-Chandra Research Institute (Allahabad), Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (Kolkata), Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientifc Research (Bengaluru), National Centre for Biological Sciences (Bengaluru), Tokyo Institute of Technology, Indian Statistical Institute (Bengaluru), Institute of Mathematical Sciences (Chennai), and Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (Hyderabad) has recommended the following:

“It is clear that the University administration failed to discharge its responsibilities in a non-partisan manner, and failed to protect academic freedom on campus. Instead of amicably resolving the dispute between the ASA and the ABVP students, the administration succumbed to pressure from the BJP and the central government and took ill-advised and one-sided decisions that led to prolonged agitations and disquiet among a large section of students. Prof. Appa Rao himself failed to act on Mr. Rohith Vemula’s letter in December 2015, displaying an alarming lack of empathy. Furthermore, the administration failed to prevent the brutal assault by the police on dissenting students on 22 March 2016. We feel that, as the head of the University administration, Prof. Appa Rao should accept responsibility for these failures.

We wish to emphasize that this issue is not about individuals. Any administrative post in an academic institution is about serving the community.

In fact, sincere academics are commonly wary of administrative positions, since they are a distraction from academic work. Therefore it makes sense for an academic to continue in an administrative post only to the extent that he or she is able to contribute constructively to the institution. As such, Prof. Appa Rao should carefully consider whether his continued presence is helpful for the University. As far as we can see, Prof. Appa Rao has turned into a polarizing figure, and his mere presence as vice chancellor has led to a constant conict, which has disrupted the academic activities of the University. So, we hope that Prof. Appa Rao will heed his own conscience and decide to step down from his position as vice-chancellor for the larger good of the University.”

PM Modi’s words on furthering innovation became hollow and hypocratic after awarding Podile Apparao, the plagiarist with award “Millenium Plaque of Honour”. Such an award presented to Apparao Podile by PM Modi is a tight slap on the face of brilliant minds who wish to further science and progress in the nation.

The Prime Minister Modi who boasts of Merit, Quality, Science and Digitization awards a plagiarist Apparao Podile. What would be the future of the science in this country? Moreover Narendra Modi’s Government has been excessively promoting forums which lack scientific thinking, rationality and which are the big hurdles for progress and innovation. Indian Science Congress in the past too had made unscientific and unverified claims in Mumbai attended by Modi, where Praksh Javadekar former Union Minster for Environment had inaugurated a session called “Ancient Sciences through Sanskrit” in which a former pilot Anand Bodas claimed that Indian Sages knew how to build planet hopping spacecraft, which received huge criticsm from academics, scientists across the nation.

PM Bhargava a noted scientist on 02/01/2017 remarked on ISC that “I must have attended 40 Indian Science Congress meetings since 1948 but treating science as synonymous with superstition shows total bankruptcy of Indian science. It is not the government’s fault alone, but that of scientific community too. They should have refused to participate in the meeting for mixing up superstition with valid proof,”

Such trends of BJP government promoting bodies which, in the name of science promote superstition and irrational methods indicate Politics spoiling growth of science in the country, Narendra Modi furthering Pseudo Science and irrationality not just in religion and society but also in the economy as shown by the flopped show of demonetization is hurting the progress and development in the country.

A body such as National Science Congress presenting “Millenium Plaque of Honour” to Apparao Podile is not surprising, but presentation of such an award by Narendra Modi is a dangerous signal to the path of scientific thinking, and social justice.

The struggle against Podile Apparao seeking his removal as Vice-Chancellor and his arrest under Prevention of Atrocities would continue till Justice is rendered.

Courtesy: India Resists
 

The post Outrageous!: Modi confers award on Rohith Vemula’s institutional killer Apparao Podile appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Hence, it was on the same day that Radhika Vemula sat on the protest that the university revoked the suspension of the two professors ordered just days back; On June 16 it had become public knowledge that the District Collector, Guntur had unequivocally certified that Rohith and his family were and are Dalits putting to rest a controversy fuelled by central ministers in the Modi regime in Delhi

June 17 marked the 5th Month Anniversary of Rohith’s Institutional Murder

 
Radhika Vemula joined the relay hunger strike today in support of two suspended faculty, KY Ratnam  and Tathagata Sengupta and to demand the arrest of suspended Vice Chancellor, Apparao at the University of Hyderabad yesterday .

Yesterday, marked the fifth months after Rohith Vemula’s departure from all of us physically. But till now, none of the culprits responsible for his institutional murder have been arrested. On the contrary, those who have been standing up for justice were arrested, lathi charged, jailed and suspended. Radhika Vemula joined the relay hunger strike in support of faculty at the Abandoned Main Gate, UoH on JAnuary 17.

Only the day before yesterday news of the National SC Commission Chairperson PL Punia seeking action under the Atrocities Act against Appa Rao and Union Minister Union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya had revealed that the report of the Guntur District Collector, Kantilal Dande had stated clearly on affidavit that Rohith Vemula and his family is and were always Dalit

NCSC will direct Cyberabad Police to file act on the Prevention of SC/ST Atrocities (POA) charges against  Union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya and Vice-Chancellor, HCU P. Appa Rao
 
Despite these clampdowns, the movement for social justice has not been stymied or stopped, it has got only further intensified. Said the Campaign for Social Justice, University of Hyderabad (UoH) that the slogan of Dr.B.R.Ambedkar, “For ours is a battle not for wealth or for power. It is battle for freedom. It is the battle of reclamation of human personality” became a reality when Prof.V.Krishna has resigned from the post of Controller of Examinations, later when another culprit in the suicide of Senthil Kumar, Prof.Vipin Srivatsava was appointed as Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Prof.Sreepathi Ramudu had also resigned through an open letter.

When the two faculties Dr.K.Y.Ratnam and Tathagat Sen Gupta were suspended, they chose not be in silenced, and instead resolved to fight back, and their fight is continuing.
 
Radhika Vemula, mother of Rohith Vemula, who has been an inspiring force in the struggle, has also proved to this nation that self-respect and aspirations for justice cannot be purchased, and the way she rejected 8 lakhs of compensation by Apparao Podile led University of Hyderabad shook the entire nation. Following the advice of her son and following the foot-steps of Dr.B.R.Ambedkar she accepted Buddhism from the hands of Prakash Ambedkar, grandson of Dr.B.R.Ambedkar on April 14, Ambedkar Jayanti.

The revocation orders were ordered yesterday.

 

The post UoH Admin Backtracks, Revokes Suspension of Two Professors After Rare Show of Faculty Unity appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Image: Scroll.in

Rohith Vemula and his family is and were always Dalit, says the Guntur District Collector, Kantilal Dande

NCSC will direct Cyberabad Police to file act on the Prevention of SC/ST Atrocities (POA) charges against  Union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya and Vice-Chancellor, HCU P. Appa Rao

As the Guntur District Collector has certified that Vemula’s caste was Hindu Mala (Scheduled Caste), “Telangana police will have to act on atrocity charges pressed against the accused in the PoA case, failing which they will be in violation of constitutional provisions and the law”, Mr. Punia has told The Hindu.

Further, the media has reported that the National Schedule Caste Commission (NCSC) will direct Cyberabad police to act on Prevention of SC/ST Atrocities (PoA) charges slapped against five persons including Union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya and Vice-Chancellor of University of Hyderabad P. Appa Rao in connection with Rohith Vemula suicide case. This was stated by the NCSC Chairman P.L. Punia in Hyderabad on Wednesday.

The Commission’s direction will be based on Guntur District Collector’s report on Mr. Vemula’s caste status, Mr. Punia has said.  “In the meeting which is to be convened next week, the Commission will table the report and ask Cyberabad police to act on it,” he said adding that the Guntur Collector has already sent a copy of the report to both the investigating officer and Cyberabad Commissioner C.V. Anand.

The NCSC Chairman said that the District Collector is the highest authority in issuing caste certificate. “The Collector’s certification in this case was based on the data and documents provided by Revenue Divisional Officer and Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Guntur. As per the documents, a permanent Caste certificate was issued to Rohith Vemula by the Guntur Tahsildar in 2005. His caste was always recorded as Mala (SC) and with the Collector certifying this, the police should go ahead with the proceedings,” Mr. Punia said. The NCSC is legally bound to ask police an explanation if a PoA case goes unattended, he said.The NCSC received the Collector’s report last week, Mr. Punia confirmed.

On February 25, Teesta Setalvad had, in Sabrangindia raised pertinent questions about the speech made by the minister for human resources development (MHRD), Smriti Irani in parliament.  Among the questions raised were, 'Is it or is it not true that senior functionaries of the GOI, including two central ministers (both women) have questioned the authenticity of Dalit identity of Rohith?' Secondly, 'After January 17, 2016 and the tragic step that Rohith Vemula took, did or did not the GOI appoint Ajit Duval, National security Advisor the Task to investigate the real caste of Rohith Vemula?  Moreover, the writer had asked, 'Did the trail not begin politically: with the Vice President, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Hyderabad,  Nandanam Diwakar writing to Central minister Dattareya, (August 10, 2015), seven days before the latter writes to Irani, a letter in which wrong and exaggerated accounts of ABVP student, Susheel Kumar’s injuries are given as well as a litany of political opposition to Ambedkarites listed? '

Further,  the Times of India also reported on June 16, that the delay in the investigations under the SC/ST Act was because the Hyderabad police was deliberately delaying investigations. Reportedly, the Vice Chancellor is yet to be interrogated despite the NCSC having given the green signal for it, sections of the faculty have alleged.

In a vindictive action that has drawn further protest and outrage, the university administration has suspended two professors, KY Ratnam and Tathagata Sengupta for supporting the peacefully protesting students on March 22. The suspension order is dated Hune 13 and there has been a relay protest since June 14. The administration and the Modi regime appear to be taking full advantage of the vacation period when students numbers diminish at the university.

Is the University of Hyderabad (UoH) management working hand in glove with the police to `protect' Appa Rao Podile? Most definitely, allege students and faculty members, pointing to the lackadaisical attitude of the police in fast-tracking probe into the Rohith Vemula suicide case, which names vice-chancellor Podile as an accused. And this, despite the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) green-flagging the VC's interrogation, they say .

“Minutes of the NCSC meeting reveals that the commission had instructed the police to go ahead with the investigation -nearly two to three weeks ago -on the basis of the brief submitted by the additional district magistrate of Guntur. Despite this, the police has not questioned or arrested Podile. It is clear that political pressure is leading to the delay in this matter,“ alleged Prashanth Dontha, a close friend of Vemula. He hoped that the police will soon interrogate the VC under the SCST Atrocities Act. Accusations about the powersthat-be trying to “safeguard“ Podile are being voiced even by faculty members, who have condemned the police for deliberately dragging its feet on the case and making “lame excuses“ to delay the process.

“It appears that the police is giving all sorts of reasons to manipulate the circumstances. Based on the magistrate's report, they must ideally go ahead with the investigation. But the police is only safeguarding Podile by saying that they haven't heard from the Andhra Pradesh government on Vemula's caste,“ said Sudhakar Babu, convener, SCST Teachers Forum. He appealed to the police to be more proactive in handling the matter.

Incidentally, Guntur Collector, Kantilal Dande, in his report tabled recently before the NCSC, has confirmed that Vemula was a Dalit. This came five months after the PhD scholar committed suicide on January 17.
Speaking to TOI, advocate S Gunaratna, representing Vemula's family, said that he intimated the Hyderabad high court about the Guntur collector's report last Monday . “Five petitions filed by the accused had sought relief from arrest. Now, with the collector's report, we will file a fresh petition to cancel those relief petitions,“ Gunaratna said.

Meanwhile, feigning ignorance about this development, the police claimed it is yet to receive a copy of the collector's report. “I did not receive any report either from the Guntur authorities or the commission about Rohith's caste,“ said M Ramana Kumar, assistant commissioner of police, who is the investigating officer in the case. SabrangIndia's repeated efforts to get a response from the Telangana government administration (Home Secretary, Director General of Police) received no response. On contacting Commissioner of Police, CYV Anand, he requested us to get in touch with the Investigating Officer (IO) who too did not offer a response. Amongst other questions, Sabrangindia had asked whether the criminal cases against 29 students and two faculty members of the HCU had been withdrawn. On March 27, during the State Assembly session which had turned turbulent on the violent police action against students and faculty of HCU, chief minister, K Chandrasekhara Rao had promised to convey to the 'PM the mood of the House.' It is the Telangana (Hyderabad) police that had allegedly misbehaved with the student protesters and faculty while the government tried to shrug its shoulders off the movement saying that the matter related to a Central University.

Meanwhile, the relay hunger strike by Tathagata Sengupta and K Y Ratnam, who were suspended by the university executive committee, intensified on Wednesday, June 15 . Members of the All India Students Association joined the agitation, terming the suspension as “unwarranted“.

In the meantime, a fresh statement issued by the Hyderabad University management insisted that the two faculty members were suspended strictly in accordance with Rule 10 of the Central Civil Services (classification, control and appeal) Rules, 1965. According to the rule: “It is the duty of an employee, who is arrested for any reason, to intimate the fact of their arrest and the circumstances connected therewith to their official superior promptly, even though they might have subsequently been released on bail.“The statement added: “The two faculty members have failed in this respect and hence were issued a memorandum on June 13 requesting them to explain why disciplinary action should not be initiated against them in terms of CCS (CCA) Rules 1965.“

The post Rohith Vemula a Dalit, Action under Atrocities Act Mandatory: NCSC Chairman PL Punia appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Prof KY Ratnam being welcomed back after his release from jail, March 2016

Prof Tathagata Sengupta being welcomed back on his release from jail, March 2002

Professors KY Ratnam and Tathagat Sengupta reacted sharply to the suspended Vice Chancellor Appa Rao’s latest move to suspend both of them from the faculty calling the move as the latest in the succession of atrocities against Dalit students. Speaking to Sabrangindia, he said, ‘Now it is the faculty’s turn.  The administration and the government believe that by targeting individuals, individuals the anti-caste struggle that is burgeoning all over India will be suppressed. This has never happened throughout history. It will not happen now,” said Sengupta speaking to Sabrangindia.

Professor KY Ratnam, a widely respected professor of Dalit studies also talking to Sabrangindia, said, “Our suspension is unjust and yet another atrocity in continuance of the ones helped on students that killed Rohith Vemula. From students, the administration is now targeting the faculty.” Both professors, Ratnam and Sengupta will be sitting on a relay hunger fast

Late on Monday evening, June 13, newspapers reported that the University of Hyderabad's executive council suspended senior Dalit professor KY Ratnam and assistant professor Tathagata Sengupta on Monday who have been an active member in the justice for Rohith Vemula movement.  A confidential order was issued by the executive council to both the professors.
 
Officials from the university have reportedly told the media that the decision has been taken as per the Government of India rule. "The government of India rule states that if somebody is in judicial custody for more than 48 hours then they are deemed to be suspended. The vice-chancellor wanted to have the matter discussed in the executive council which was held last Monday. Therefore, today the orders were issued to the professors," Vipin Srivastava, official spokesperson of UoH and pro VC had told the TOI.
 
He further added that the suspension will be in place until the charges against the professors are not cleared. "The professors have all the right to challenge the decision in the court. However, they will not be allowed to teach in the university until their charges are cleared," added Srivastava. The professors and their legal team are meanwhile all set to challenge the decision in Court.

Just days ago senior Dalit faculty member of the UoH/HCU  professor Sreepati Ramudu had resigned from the post of Head of the Centre for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy in protest against the appointment of Vipin Srivastava as the Pro-Vice Chancellor of University of Hyderabad. The SC-ST Faculty Forum of University of Hyderabad had strongly condemned the varsity’s move of appointing Prof. Vipin Srivastava as the Pro V-C1 of the university the day before.Giving reasons for his resignation, professor Sreepati Ramudu had writen,"I resigned from the headship of Center for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy today against the decision of appointing Prof, Vipin Srivastava as the Pro-Vice Chancellor 1 of the University of Hyderabad. When Pof. Vipin Srivastava was instated as interim Vice-Chancellor earlier, SC/ST Teachers' Forum  had opposed the decision because he, Vipin Srivastava , was allegedly responsible for the tragic death of a yet another Dalit research scholar Senthil Kumar in 2008.

Unlike in the case of the ongoing agitation and government-student confrontation at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) where the JNUTA (JNU Teachers Association) has stood firmly in solidarity with the students, at HCU/UoH only about 25-30 faculty members have shown solidarity with the movement for autonomy and resistance before and after te institutional murder of Rohith Vemula. Over 150 of the 200 strong faculty have either buried their noses, ostrich like or chosen to side with the administration.
 
On March 22, an unprecedented and cruel police action against peacefully protesting students had drawn nationwide outrage. The protests took place after suspended VC Appa Rao suddenly was ‘restored’ to his former glory as VC after being suspended following the nationwide outcry after Rohith Venuma’s death, an act of the Modi Regime that signalled utter disregard for the rising outrage on Indian campuses against the rigid authoritarianism represented by the RSS-driven regime.
 
Ratnam and Sengupta were arrested on charges of vandalism in the March 22 incident on campus where few students who had been peacefully protesting and were instead, accused of vandalising vice-chancellor Appa Rao Podile's university residence.
 
Fifty-three-year-old Ratnam, has been employed with the University of Hyderabad (UoH) for close to 15 years. An associate professor in the political science department, Ratnam has made a seminal contribution towards Dalit issues. A prominent representative of the roughly 50-strong Dalit faculty members group at UoH, he is also popular as the founder of the Ambedkar Studies Centre at the university.

The 31-year-old Tathagata Sengupta is known for his articulate nature. He has been serving as the assistant professor at the Mathematics department at the UoH for nearly five years. Despite being the joint secretary of the University of Hyderabad Teachers' Association, he has been closely associated with the several issues raised by the students' community. People close to him say that he was driven by social justice and was deeply invested with a strong sense of judgement.

Meawnhile, the Joint Action Committe for Social Justice has issued a strong press release dated June 14, 2016 condemning the suspension.

Condemn the Suspension of Prof. K.Y Ratnam & Dr.Tathagata Sengupta! Arrest all the five culprits responsible for Rohith Vemula’s death!

The Joint Action Committee for Social Justice (UoH) condemns the atrocious and outrageous decision taken by the institutional murderer Appa Rao Podile-led University of Hyderabad for suspending a senior Dalit Professor K.Y Ratnam and Dr.Tathagata Sengupta in the pretext of their illegal arrest on March 22, 2016. The Dalit research scholars Rohith, Prashanth, Vijay, Seshiah and Dr.Sunkanna were ostracized and subjected to social boycott by the same Executive Council that took the decision of suspension on June 6, 2016 and issued the suspension orders to our teachers on June 13, 2016.

Appa Rao Podile, after three months, is citing “a Government rule” to justify his decision of suspending the two teachers. It is such an irony that a culprit booked under non-bailable charges is scot free and exercising his power as Vice-Chancellor with complete impunity provided by the BJP-led MHRD and Central Government to take arbitrary decisions against students and teachers protesting for ‪#‎JusticeforRohith.

The Joint Action Committee for Social Justice (UoH) repeats what we had demanded when Appa Rao Podile had returned to campus on the 22nd March that Section 17 of the SC/ST PoA Act be immediately applied because it clearly states that preventive action can be taken in case of an area prone to atrocities against those who have committed an offense under SC/ST PoA Act. Completely violating this section, Appa Rao Podile has been allowed by MHRD and Telangana State to return to the University. Our fears then, that Appa Rao Podile’s presence on campus will tamper with the evidence and created fear and distress among the students has been proven true time and again.

Prof.Sreepati Ramudu who resigned from the post of Head of Center for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy recently in protest against the appointment of Vipin Srivastava as Pro-Vice Chancellor mentioned in his resignation letter about the constant humiliation and oppression that is meted out to the Dalit community in University of Hyderabad. After persecuting Dalit students, the Kamma Fascist Appa Rao Podile and his political masters sitting in Nagpur are now targeting Prof. K.Y Ratnam, the Head of Center for Ambedkar Studies who along with three other Dalit intellectuals gave a befitting reply to RSS against the appropriation of Babasaheb Ambedkar’s works by Sangh Parivar. In 2002, when ten dalit students were rusticated by the then Chief Warden Appa Rao Podile, Prof. K.Y Ratnam registered his protest against the casteist University administration. Even after their release from jail, Prof. K.Y Ratnam and Dr.Tathagata Sengupta continued to raise their voices for #JusticeforRohith in different parts of the country. It is no surprise that such a decision targeting these teachers has come out at this juncture because Appa Rao Podile feels threatened by the spirit and commitment of the struggling University community.

Post January 17,Appa Rao Podile fled from campus and after two months, he returned with a massive police force and a well conspired “task list” that chalked out the responsibilities for his stooges in University to ensure his smooth return on March 22, 2016 to capture the Vice-Chancellor’s post. On that day, State police and CRPF unleashed its brute force on the protesting students who did not accept an institutional murderer as Vice-Chancellor and demanded for his immediate arrest. Instead, when police started thrashing and arresting students,

Prof. K.Y Ratnam and Dr. Tathagata Sengupta intervened and asked the police to not beat us and demanded that the culprit booked under SC/ST PoA Act and Abetment of Suicide be arrested immediately. However, our teachers were dragged inside police vans, subjected to custodial torture and jail time. On March 23, 2016, another Dalit research scholar Uday Bhanu, member of Joint Action Committee was brutally beaten up by police and threatened for life for cooking food near Velivada. Students decided to cook food for themselves when Appa Rao Podile created rifts between non-teaching staff and struggling students by luring a section of them and imposed a 48 hour ban on food and other basic amenities. This is the context of Appa Rao Podile’s presence as Vice-Chancellor that we cannot forget.

What took Appa Rao Podile-led Executive Council so long to decide on the suspension of the teachers? Why did Appa Rao Podile conduct the Executive Council meeting during the vacation? Wasn’t this meeting convened to execute Appa Rao Podile’s agenda of suspending the struggling teachers to create fear among the University community? It is not coincidental that University has intensified its attacks on #JusticeforRohith struggle during the vacation. As vacation started, the University administration shut down hostels, stole our tents and desecrated Babasaheb Ambedkar’s images, quotes and the Preamble of the Constitution that amounts to yet another atrocity as per SC/ST PoA Amendments Act (2015), whitewashed all the walls that carried the memories of our struggle and in the latest attack, suspended our teachers who stood uncompromisingly against the dictatorial regime of the institutional murderer.

The unrest and an atmosphere of fear and intimidation prevailing on campus is generated among students after the return of the primary accused in the institutional murder of Rohith Vemula. Joint Action Committee for Social Justice (UoH) demands that Appa Rao Podile must be arrested immediately to stop further atrocity against Dalits on campus. We demand the immediate revocation of suspension of Prof. K.Y Ratnam and Dr. Tathagata Sengupta. We demand the imposition of section 17 of POA act to be imposed upon the university. We reiterate that WE WILL NOT STEP BACK UNTIL JUSTICE IS DELIVERED TO ROHITH VEMULA.Jai Bheem!! Inquilab Zindabad!!
Johar, Rohith Vemula!!
 

Prof KY Ratnam

Prof Tathagata Sengupta

References:

1. First Person: How the Police Battered and Brutalised Arrested Students and Professors of UoH 
2. Suspended VC barged in to disrupt university’s progress towards normalcy 
3. Bail Granted to Students and Faculty of HCU 
4. Withdraw Police, Suspend VC, Order Probe: 300 International Academics on HCU
5. Faculty Member accuses VC Appa Rao of Bid to Shut Down HCU
6. HCU Erupts: Plan to attack Unsuspecting protesting Students? 
7. UoH Alumni Open Letter against the institutional murder of Rohith Vemula, the return of Dr. Appa Rao as UoH’s VC, and the brutal display of state violence in campus.
8. National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights Calls for Immediate Action
9. HCU: Students and Fculty Arrested for Peaceful Protests Must be Released
10. HRD Ministry should not be Converted into Hindu Rashtra Development Ministry: CPM
11.Letter by CPI(M), Sitaram Yechury addressed to the Telangana Chief Minister, Shri K Chandrasekar Rao
12. Rubbing Salt on Wounds: Modi Regime appoints Anti-Dalit Prof as Pro VC, HCU
13. Suspended VC Appa Rao seeks Legitimacy by Dividing Students Union: HCU
14. Suspend Appa Rao as VC, Step up Investigations for Violations against Atrocities Act
15. HCU Faculty raps Appa Rao: "Shame that You are stooping to such Tactics"
16. HCU bows to Campus Outrage: Rohith Vemula Suicide
17. One Day Fast in Support of Students of JNU and HCU:Bengaluru
18. History is Made at HCU on the Eve of the 125th Birth Anniversary of Babasaheb Ambedkar
19. Campus with a difference JNU and HCU are being targeted because they attract and nurture students from lower castes.

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Shame that you're stooping to such tactics: UoH Teachers forum writes to VC Appa Rao

Suspended Vice Chancellor(VC) Appa Rao has been continuing his repressive tactics while students give their examinations . Faculty have however strongly objected to these strong arm tactics and yesterday this letter found its way all over the University of Hyderabad (UoH) campus. "As you know, this is being issued and pasted across the University without your permission," they wro

Even as students at the University of Hyderabad continued 're-building' their 'velivada' by stitching a tent out of their clothes,the SC/ST Teachers' Forum has written an open letter to VC Appa Rao and pasted copies of the letter across the varsity. The Forum wrote the letter in response to a circular issued by Appa Rao, where he said that permission should be taken before a poster or banner is put up anywhere on campus.
 
 Here is the full text of the letter:

Dear Prof. Appa Rao,

We have received the circular dated 31/5/2016 from the Registrar citing your orders of the same day (Ref. no. UH/SEC/2016) with shock as well as amusement. Amusement, because when you were the President of UHTA during the Vice-Chancellorship of Prof. Hasnain, UHTA pasted many posters all over the campus with your blessings. Now, suddenly, you do a volte face with total hypocrisy that no posters should be pasted without permission! Don’t you think that this is utterly absurd?! Of course, it is apparent that you do not have the courage to handle the posters that speak truth to power and challenge many of the fictitious narratives you put out. It just confirms to us your opportunism and intolerance to dissent as well as your contempt for basic tenets of democracy.

When you were the person who challenges the statements of the then VC, you had to enjoy the freedom of expression enshrined in our Constitution but the same needs to be denied to your detractors. I wonder what your reaction would have been had Prof. Hasnain also resorted to such a tactic? Send all your posters to him for his kind permission and approval? It is a shame that you are stooping to such tactics to muzzle the voice of the university. Taking permission from the authorities is tantamount to censorship. We have seen evidence of this when Prof. Hasnain suddenly banned the faculty mailing list from being open to all. All UHTA mails were refused to be forwarded by CNF to the faculty. Do you think that people are blind to the repercussions of such circulars? If University is not the place where competing ideas are placed in public and debated, where else do you think they will be done? These tactics remind one of the violent infamous days of Emergency in 1975.

As you know, this is being issued and pasted across the University without your permission. We defy anyone to muzzle our voice.

Yours sincerely
SC/ST Teachers' Forum and Concerned Teachers

June 2, 2016

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