रोहित की मानसिक स्थिति को इस स्तर तक पहुंचा दिया गया कि उन्होंने आत्महत्या का फैसला ले लिया। रोहित के अंतिम खत से पहले भी उसने एक खत वीसी को लिखा था। उसमें उसकी मानसिक स्थिति का अंदाजा लगाया जा सकता था। आखिर ऐसा क्या हुआ कि एक वैज्ञानिक की तरह सोच रखने वाला इंसान आत्महत्या के ख्याल को दबा नहीं पाया।
 
हालांकि उनकी मौत को एक साल हो चुका है लेकिन सरकार की छत्रछाया में पल रहे कातिलों को अभी तक आंच नहीं आई है। इसके साथ ही इस आत्महत्या के लिए जिम्मेदार माने जा रहे वीसी अप्पाराव को सजा के बजाय प्रधानमंत्री ने खुद बेस्ट शिक्षक के अवॉर्ड से सम्मानित किया है।

Courtesy: National Dastak

The post अगर आज जिंदा होते तो अपना जन्मदिन मना रहे होते रोहित वेमुला…. appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Image: The Hindu

What is being dubbed as a predisposed and faulty account produced to propagate the Modi government’s agenda, HRD ministry’s enquiry report on Hyderabad University scholar Rohith Vemula’s alleged suicide has drawn sharp criticism from P L Punia, Chairperson, of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes (NCSCST) a statutory authority. Punia has impugned former justice Roopanwal’s authority to investigate Vemula’s caste when the terms of reference of the enquiry commission simply did not mandate this investigation.

He told Sabrangindia, “It is shameful that a person who has been a Judge of a High Court has behaved in such an unprofessional fashion. The Commission was not mandated to look into the caste of the Vemula family. He has given his opinion on something that was not part of his jurisdiction.”

He added, "There were only two terms of reference for the Commission: the circumstances under which Rohith Vemula committed suicide and the systemic and institutional mechanisms to address discrimination within the University. Why did he go beyond his mandate?

 As per the document accessed by Sabrangindia that can be read here, there were only two specific terms of reference for the Roopanwal commission quoted as below:

(i) to enquire into the facts and circumstance leading to the death of Shri Chakravarti R.Vemula, a research scholar of University of Hyderabad, and fix responsibility for lapses, if any. 
(ii) to review the existing grievance redressal mechanism for students at the University, and to suggest improvements
. 
Referring to the section, Punia said, "The Judge was hired to give a stamp of approval on what the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regime has been saying all over the country. He has gone way beyond the terms of reference that he was expected to adjudicate on. Who gave him the authority to adjudicate on caste which was never the issue under adjudication? He has authoritatively given a finding on caste. Who gave him this authority? Under law, only the Revenue Authority (Collector) of the District is authorized to determine this issue. If there are issues or findings or questions, there is a procedure that needs to be looked at. Why did he speak on something that was not part of the terms of reference?”

The post Punia: Who gave Justice Roopanwal the authority to speak on Vemula’s caste? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

हैदराबाद केंद्रीय विवि के शोध-छात्र रोहित वेमुला की डायरी पढ़ते हुए ये अहसास तेज़तर होता चला जाता है कि इस बेहतरीन ज़हीन सूझबूझ और वैज्ञानिक नज़रिये के लड़के को अगर ब्राह्मणवादी ग़लीज़ व्यवस्था के नुमाइंदों ने आत्महत्या की ओर न धकेला होता तो ये हम सबके बीच मुस्कुरा रहा होता और दुनिया भर के उत्पीड़ित समुदाय की तक़लीफ़ों को शब्द दे रहा होता, इन तकलीफ़ों के सामाजिक राजनीतिक आयाम का सैद्धांतिकीकरण कर रहा होता। साथ ही, सरंचनागत अन्याय और अत्याचार के ख़िलाफ़ मुट्ठी ताने लोगों का आह्वान कर रहा होता कि वे अपनी तक़दीर के निर्माता खुद हो जाएं। कथित राष्ट्रवादी परियोजना और परजीवी ब्राह्मणवादी व्यवस्था के हत्यारे युग्म के हमलों का जवाब दे रहा होता और जीवन की मूलभूत ज़रूरतों, अस्मिता और इंसानी गरिमा से सदियों से बहिष्कृत कर दिए गए समूहों, समुदायों को प्रतिरोधी विचारों की सान से लैस कर रहा होता।

डिज़िटल प्रकाशन जगरनॉट से रोहित की डायरी “कास्ट इज़ नॉट अ रयूमर” रोहित के व्यस्थित, पैने चिंतन और सुरुचिपूर्ण, समाज-वैज्ञानिक गद्य का अहम दस्तावेज़ है। ‘दि हिंदू’ अख़बार की पत्रकार निखिला हेनरी ने इसे रोहित के फेसबुक लेखन को संकलित और संपादित किया है। यह डायरी छात्र रोहित के कैंपस एक्टिविज़्म, देश दुनिया में चल रहे विभिन्न जनआंदोलनों के प्रति उनकी धारदार सोच-समझ और मनुष्य की सामुदायिक मुक्ति की विभिन्न विचारधाराओं की बौद्धिक विरासत को जांचने-परखने और उन्हें ‘रिक्लेम’ करने की ईमानदार छटपटाहट का न सिर्फ़ बोध कराती है, बल्कि आज के सामयिक मुद्दों से तार्किक मुठभेड़ करती हुई प्रतिरोध का व्याकरण निर्मित करती है। यह डायरी इस अर्थ में एक ऐतिहासिक दस्तावेज़ है कि एक असीम संभावना से लबरेज़ एक बेहतरीन जन-बुद्धिजीवी या ‘ऑर्गेनिक इंटेलेक्चुअल’ की निर्मिति के पदचिन्हों का रेखांकन करती है।

रोहित की डायरी ब्राह्मणवादी दर्शन के पाखंडी चरित्र और इसके मूल में निहित धूर्तता और इसके छल-प्रपंचों की, समग्रता में, असलियत उजागर करती है। यह जाति के सिद्धांत और व्यवहार के सवाल पर दक्षिणपंथी हिन्दुत्ववादी राष्ट्रवाद पर तीखा प्रहार करती है और वामपंथी राजनीतिक धाराओं की सुसंगत आलोचना पेश करती है। यह डायरी मनुष्य विरोधी मनुवादी चिंतन-प्रणाली के भौतिक नतीजों यानी इसके सांस्थानिक कुकर्मों से हमारे देश की छलनी कर दी गई अंतरात्मा का एक करूण शोकगीत है। यह शोकगीत पीड़ा में असहायता और निष्क्रियता के ग़ुबार में इंसान को क़ैद रखने के विरुद्ध है। रोहित का सुचिंतित लेखन मनुष्यता के साझे भविष्य की हिफ़ाज़त में उम्मीद के गीत रचता है। सारांश में, यह शोकगीत अपने प्रारूप में मज़बूत और निश्छल उम्मीद का बायस बन जाता है। इस उम्मीद का काव्यात्मक उरूज़ हमें रोहित के आख़िरी पैग़ाम में देखने को मिलता है जहाँ वह एक तरफ़, सितारों के बीच ख़ुद को तिरोहित करने के लिए तैयार कर रहा है और दूसरी तरफ़ एक अपने ब्राह्मणवादी हत्यारों को उनके अनाचारी पापों के बोझ से मुक्त करते हुए भी व्यवस्था के सामने अकाट्य सत्य सवाल छोड़ जाता है। बेहतर होगा कि हम रोहित की इस चिठ्ठी का एक अंश यहाँ फिर पढ़ें: “मैं हमेशा से एक लेखक बनना चाहता था। विज्ञान लेखक कार्ल सैगन की तरह। लेकिन, आख़िर में ये ख़त लिख पा रहा हूँ। मुझे विज्ञान से, सितारों से और प्रकृति से प्यार था। लेकिन, मैंने लोगों से प्यार किया और ये नहीं जान पाया कि वे कब के प्रकृति से जुदा हो चुके हैं। हमारी भावनाएं दोयम दर्जे की हो चुकी हैं। हमारा प्रेम बनावटी है।  हमारी मान्यताएं झूठी हैं। यह बेहद मुश्किल हो चला है कि हम प्यार करें और दुखी न हों। एक आदमी की क़ीमत उसकी तात्कालिक पहचान और नज़दीकी संभावना तक सीमित कर दी गई है। एक वोट तक। आदमी एक संख्या बनकर रह गया है। एक वस्तु मात्र। एक इंसान को उसके ज़ेहन से कभी नहीं आँका गया। सितारों की ख़ाक़ से बनी एक शानदार चीज़। हर क्षेत्र में, पढ़ाई में, गलियों में, राजनीति में, और ज़िंदगी तथा मौत में।”

रोहित की इस डायरी में उनके 2008  से जनवरी 2016 तक के लेखन का संकलन है। जिसमें उन्होंने इंसानी अस्तित्व के लगभग सारे मुद्दों को संबोधित किया है। इसमें समकालीन राजनीति, नागरिक अधिकार, विज्ञान, शिक्षा, धर्म, प्रकृति, नारीवाद, मार्क्सवाद सहित दोस्ती और रोज़मर्रा के जाति अधारित उत्पीड़न और संरचनागत शोषण-दमन के बारीक़ से बारीक़ पहलुओं की पड़ताल शामिल है। उन्होंने देश में, लोकतंत्र को भीड़तंत्र में तब्दील कर देने के फ़ासीवादी मंसूबे और इसके शीर्ष नेतृत्व के मनोविज्ञान का सारगर्भित  विश्लेषण गया है। गो-रक्षा दल के अत्याचारों और उनके राजनीतिक आक़ाओं का, अभिव्यक्ति की आज़ादी के अपराधीकरण और विवि परिसरों में दलित शोध-विद्यार्थियों की सांस्थानिक हत्यायों, या कि इस हत्या को नॉर्मलाइज़ और स्वीकार्य बनाने के लिए प्रचलित शब्द ‘आत्महत्या’, की घटनाओं पर जीवट प्रतिवाद किया है। डायरी पढ़ते हुए यह हैरानी लगातार आहट देती रहती है कि इन रचनाओं का लेखक जातिगत उत्पीड़न, दमन और अलगाव की परिस्थितियों में अपनी जीजिविषा को अपदस्थ नहीं कर सकता। रोहित के लेखन को पढ़ते हुए उनकी ख़ुद सितारों में खो जाने की हसरत अविश्वसनीय सी लगती है। रोहित की रचनाएँ उनकी अनुपस्थिति से ज़्यादा उनकी ‘नोटिसेबल’ उपस्थिति का अहसास कराती हैं। यह मृत्यु को भी एक जीवंत उत्सवधर्मिता में तब्दील करती हैं।

ये डायरी रोहित की ज़िंदगी और उनकी अनुपस्थिति, मौत के चुनाव, में भी विद्रोह का संदेश है। एक निस्सीम उदात्तता है जो मृत्यु के बाद भी जिए गए जीवन की अनंतता की संभावना प्रस्तुत करता है। अकारण नहीं कि रोहित ने अपने लेखन में विक्टर ह्यूगो, डॉ. अंबेडकर और मैल्कम एक्स जैसे चिर-विद्रोही नायकों के लेखन का उल्लेख किया है। यह डायरी ग़ैर-बराबरी, शोषण, जातीय और लैंगिक उत्पीड़न तथा हताशा के ख़िलाफ़ लोगों को एकजुट होने के लिए पुकारती है। रोहित, सितारों के बीच, गुजरात के ऊना में इस एकजुटता की सच होती कल्पना पर धीमे से मुस्कुरा रहा होगा।

Book: The Caste is Not a Rumor; Online Diary of Rohit Vemula

Edited By: Nikhila Henry, Juggernaut Publication, New Delhi. 268

Pages, Price: Rs. 10

The post इंसान ज़ाति की हरेक अप्राकृतिक मौत इस दुनिया को एक चेतावनी है। appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Open letter to the Prime Minister from the socially boycotted students of University of Hyderabad

Monday, August 08, 2016

Respected Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, 

We, Dontha Prashanth, Vijay Pedapudi and Seshaiah Chemudugunta are Dalit Research Scholars from University of Hyderabad belonging to the Ambedkar Students Association (ASA) who were socially boycotted along with Rohith Vemula who was forced to commit suicide due to the constant humiliation and harassment by ABVP, BJP and the men in the University doing their bidding, namely vice-chancellor Podile Apparao, chief proctor Alok Pandey and certain politically motivated members of executive council of University of Hyderabad. 

We heard with disbelief, and a bit of amusement, the speech that you delivered on August 7 at Hyderabad where you condemned cow protectors who attacked Dalits in your home state of Gujarat and said: “What is the reason we torture our Dalit brothers? What right do you have? The section which has suffered for centuries, will you force them to suffer more? Be wary of nakli (fake) gau rakshaks, they have nothing to do with cow. Governments should crack down on them.” 

Addressing these nakli cow protectors, you even went to the extent of saying, “Attack me, shoot me, not Dalits.” We find it ironic that you chose to say these words a few kilometers from where fake cow-protectors and fake nationalists from your party forced a brilliant Dalit scholar to take his own life. 

Despite the passion with which you delivered it, your latest speech is as dishonest as the one that you were forced to deliver at the Bhimrao Ambedkar University in Lucknow on January 22, 2016; a week after our brother Rohith Vemula was martyred. Like your latest speech, on that occasion too you were forced to speak because people across the country and world were criticising you, your government and the merciless ideology of your rightwing party. Such was the public pressure on you, that despite your own party colleagues calling us anti-national, you were forced to hail Shaheed Rohith Vemula as a gem of this nation.

You said, “Iss desh ke ek navjawaan bête Rohith ko aatma hatya karne ko majboor hona pada, uske parivaar par kyaa biti hogi, maa bharti ne apna ek laal khoya, kaaran apni jagaah par honge, raajniti apni jagaah par hoga… Babasaheb Ambedkar ki jo sapne they un sapnon ko poora karne kaa hamaara abhirath prayaas ho”. (A young son of this land, Rohith, was compelled to commit suicide, how his mother must have suffered, Mother India has lost one of her jewels, whatever the reasons, whatever the dictates of politics… We must do our utmost to realize the dreams of Babasaheb Ambedkar).  
 
We were initially relieved when you decided to break your silence on the death of our comrade. There suddenly seemed to be hope that something drastic would happen. But what followed was a massive slander campaign by your BJP colleagues, threats by your street-level supporters and brazen atrocities by the police. That you and your government once again went silent has convinced us that we should not get too carried away with the Prime Minister’s addresses to the nation, no matter how passionately they are made. 

Mr. Prime Minister, ministers in your own cabinet such as Sushma Swaraj and Thawarchand Gehlot started the rumor campaign that Rohith was not a Dalit. Another Union minister, VK Singh called Rohith and all of us in the ASA, anti-national. Such a campaign had been on ever since the martyrdom of Rohith Vemula who wrote in his brilliant farewell note: “The value of a man was reduced to his immediate identity and nearest possibility. To a vote. To a number. To a thing. Never was a man treated as a mind. As a glorious thing made up of stardust. In every field, in studies, in streets, in politics, and in dying and living.” After death his identity as a Dalit or OBC became prime importance for your party and politics. 

It is noteworthy that you were praising Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, on his125th birth anniversary in Delhi. But here in Hyderabad, when we Dalit research scholars started quoting from the writings of Babasaheb, we were branded as anti-nationals by Bandaru Dattatreya, a minister in your own cabinet. No action was taken against him. 

When we organized the 125th birth anniversary celebrations of Babasaheb Ambedkar with his grandson, Hon’ble Prakash Ambedkar, as chief guest, he was prevented at the main gate of the university under the instruction of Podile Apparao, vice-chancellor, UoH. 

We think it is time you accepted that the focus of your speeches is never to encourage the delivery of justice. If it was so, Rohith Vemula, his mother Radhika Vemula and the four other Dalit research scholars who were targeted by the casteist university management should have got justice by now. 

If the words of the prime minister are disowned by the ministers in his cabinet what trust can we have in the government? If words are not translated into actions, what is the value of those words? What when the ministers in the government stand with casteist murderers, such as Union minister for urban development, M Venkaiah Naidu standing behind his kinsman Podile Apparao? The same cold-blooded Apparao who did not even respond to the letter Rohith Vemula wrote to him on December 18, 2015, exactly a month before he committed suicide. 

In that letter Rohith Vemula clearly wrote: “First, let me praise your dedicated take on the self-respecting movement of Dalits in campus. When an ABVP president got questioned about his derogatory remarks on Dalits, your kind personal interference into the issue is historic and exemplary. 5 Dalit students are socially boycotted from campus spaces.” Rohith then wrote something that would have alarmed anybody with basic human sentiments: “1) Please serve 10 mg of sodium azide to all the dalit students at the time of admission with direction to use whenever they feel like reading Ambedkar; 2) Supply a nice rope to the rooms of all Dalit students from your companion, the great chief warden”. He continued: “We, the research scholars have already passed that stage and already part of dalit self-respect movement unfortunately, we here are left with no easy exit it seems. Hence I request your highness to make preparations for the facility ‘Euthanasia’ for students like me. And I wish you and your campus rest in peace forever.” 
Make no mistake, as far as the law is concerned, Podile Apparao is an accused in crime no.20/2016 under SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and abetment to suicide for the constant humiliation and harassment of five Dalit research scholars, including Rohith Vemula. 

How can we Dalits dream of justice when Apparao enjoys the backing of a powerful caste leader like Venkaiah Naidu? Did all these things not cross your mind when you made your speech in Hyderabad this week where you told BJP workers, “Vaar karna hein toh mujh pe keejiye, goli chalana hai toh mujh pe keejiye, mere dalit bhaiyon pe mat keejiye”? (If you have to attack, attack me;if you want to shoot, shoot me; don’t shoot my Dalit brothers).   

What happened in the case of Rohith Vemula and four of us was that the entire government machinery waged a war against five Dalit research scholars and is still waging a war for speaking about Babasaheb Ambedkar. When the whole government machinery wants to wage a war against Dalits where can we get justice? Maybe you should say it to your own cabinet colleagues, “War karna hai toh mujh pe keejiye, goli chalana hai toh mujh pe keejiye, mere Dalit bhaiyon pe mat keejiye.” 

We are still staying at the same university where Rohith Vemula lived, fought and died. Podile Apparao is still the vice-chancellor of the university. His continuation in the same post, despite the murder allegations, is creating a much more dangerous situation for our survival at University of Hyderabad. When Rohith Vemula died you said “maa bhaarti ne ek laal khoya”. We don’t know what you mean but for us “maa bharti” is Rohith’s mother Radhika Vemula, the hard working Dalit woman who brought up her children with her hard earned income despite facing caste discrimination. 

That ‘maa bharti’ is still fighting for her justice. She was prevented thrice from entering the University of Hyderabad by the same vice-chancellor who was responsible for her son’s suicide and the harassment of us. She gets pushed around and disrespected by the police during protests. But Apparao Podile roams around with armed security guards. Recently, the district magistrate of Guntur submitted a report stating that Rohith Vemula was a Dalit (SC-Mala), and the same has been acknowledged by National Commission for Scheduled Castes. But the culprits are left scot free. Instead of getting arrested, having been let off, they are committing more atrocities. 
What action was taken after a committee appointed by the ministry of human resource development brought out the institutional lapses that led to Rohith’s suicide? Why did you not speak, Mr. Prime Minister, when Smriti Irani spoke utter lies in Parliament? What action was taken when cabinet minister Bandaru Dattatreya branded Ambedkarites as anti-nationals and influenced MHRD to write five letters putting pressure on the university management to take action against Ambedkarites? 

What happened to the judicial commission appointed by MHRD which was supposed to submit its report by August 1, 2016? 

Mr Prime Minister, the situation here in the university has become worse than before. It has become worse than the Cherlapally Central jail where our students and faculty were imprisoned on false charges. The situation is grave. Professor V Krishna, an able administrator – who started reforms in admissions leading to the increased intake of marginalized sections – resigned from his position as controller of examinations; Dr. Sreepathi Ramudu resigned from his post as head, Centre for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy; several SC/ST faculties tendered resignation from their administrative positions. Dr KY Ratnam, head, Centre for Ambedkar Studies has been targeted by Apparao and was also sent to jail on false charges along with another faculty Dr Tathagat Sen Gupta and 25 students. The forum of SC/ST faculty has even submitted representations for removal of Podile Apparao as vice-chancellor. 

Next time, when you tell your followers to wage a war against you and not against Dalits, please remember that a war is already on in which followers of your ideology are leading the casteist attack on Dalits. 
Remember, that a ‘Maa Bharti’ is still fighting like a tigress to snatch justice from the jaws of your cruel government. For better or worse, you are still the democratically elected prime minister of this country,  Mr Modi and not the representative of a group of narrow-minded criminals. We promise you that in the coming days, the social conditions in this country will make it impossible for your followers to continue with their divisive project. 
Remember that the war that your followers have unleashed on the weakest people on this country will take us all to the path of doom. 

Before that happens, we hope good sense will prevail at the PMO and efforts will be made to deliver justice to Rohith Vemula’s family and the five Dalit research scholars who were socially boycotted by the casteist vice-chancellor Podile Apparao along with other political functionaries belonging to your party. In their desperation to appropriate the legacy of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, your colleagues have twisted many of his statements to suit your ideology. 

We would like to leave you with an authentic quote from one of Dr Ambedkar’s speeches in the Constituent assembly: “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 this Assembly has so laboriously built up.”

Thanking you,

Yours Sincerely, 

Dontha Prashanth (PhD Economics), Vijay Pedapudi (PhD Political Science), Seshaiah Chemudugunta (PhD Social Exclusion & Inclusive Policy).
 
 

The post Dear PM, We Don’t Believe You: Rohith Vemula’s Suspended Colleagues appeared first on SabrangIndia.

"I am resolute, the rally for Rohith tomorrow on February 23 must be successful", Kanhaiya Kumar told his brother, Manikant Singh and uncle Rajendra Singh who met him with veteran CPI leader, Amarjit Kaur and the legal team consisting of advocate Bankim and others. The group met him in the forenoon today, February 22, at the Tihar jail where Kanhaiya Kumar has been after the unseeemly scenes at the Tees Hazari Court on February 15 and 17, 2016. He was arrested on February 12, 2016.

Tomorrow, that is February 23, 2016, senior counsel Kapil Sibal will head the legal team that is applying for bail for Kanhaiya Kumar in the Delhi High Court.
 
Kanhaiya Kumar was in good spirits, encouraging and strong concerned that the rally for “Justice for Rohith” should be successful.

Justice for Rohith
It has been more than a month that we have been fighting against this casteist criminal administration and the larger power structures. When we asked, why was the new committee constituted by R.P. Sharma scrapped? On what basis did Sub-committee, Executive Council took the atrocious decision of Social Boycott? Why did the University administration sensationalize it by linking it to Yakub Memon instead of locating it in the context of movie screening of Muzaffarnagar Baaqi Hai? Why were the counter affidavits filed by Cyberabad Commissioner of Police on 3rd October and Inspector General of Police on 31st October in the High Court overlooked and ignored? Why was Vipin Srivastav who headed the Sub-Committee of Executive Council that took the decision of Social Boycott and is main accused in the institutional murder of yet another Dalit student Senthil Kumar, appointed as the interim Vice-Chancellor? Why did BJP ministers interfere in an academic institution? We got no answers to the questions raised.

Appa Rao Podile has not been sacked from the post of Vice-Chancellor yet. The murderers have not been arrested yet. After playing a major role in the entire process of inquiry sending five letters to Appa Rao Podile including Bandaru Dattatreya’s “appeal”, MHRD is trying at its best to wash off its hands off the crime that the entire saffron brigade, in a well calculated manner, executed. The two-member committee constituted by MHRD held the Vice-Chancellor responsible for the murder giving clean chit to all the BJP ministers and constituted a one judge judicial probe to investigate into the issue. The latest convenient move by MHRD is that in the backdrop of Rohith’s death, they have decided to convene a meeting with all Central University Vice-Chancellors to reach Delhi on 18th February to discuss ways to end discrimination against marginalized sections. Three days back, the Hyderabad High Court put a stay order on the arrest of BJP MLC Ramachandra Rao and ABVP President Susheel Kumar. To cancel out the SC/ST Atrocities Act charges, they are hell bent on proving that Rohith is not a Dalit. Even after his death, they have killed him several times by forcefully cremating him without his mothers’ consent, his mother being constantly harassed and name calling Rohith as terrorist, anti-national and what not.

What gives us hope, strength and inspiration today is the unity of the people forged against the saffron brigade. Students, Workers, Professors, Film makers, Cultural activists and people from all walks of life have come together. The entire country is witnessing protests against the injustice meted out not just to the Dalit five research scholars in our University but discrimination, subjugation and humiliation faced by Dalits across the country. After Rohith’s death, the anger and outrage in all of us has shown a way to take our struggle and Rohith’s aspirations forward for a casteless society.

In a time when freedom of expression is being attacked all around us, and progressive voices are being silenced or murdered, there are some who continue to use their voices to bring light into a world seemingly engulfed in darkness. We appeal to the entire nation to join us in Delhi on 23rd February for #JusticeforRohithAttachments are

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