There was no letup in protests by students at the Hyderabad University, demanding ouster of Vice Chancellor P Appa Rao over the suicide of a Dalit research scholar.
The revocation of suspension of four Dalit students by the executive council of the central university failed to pacify the students, who say that their prime demand is the resignation of the vice chancellor and action against him, two central ministers and others responsible for the suicide of Rohith Vemula.
The Joint Action Committee (JAC) for social justice, an umbrella organisation of 14 student groups, continued the protest for the fifth consecutive day, ignoring the appeal by the vice chancellor to return to classes and help normalcy return to the campus.
Meanwhile, the indefinite strike by seven JAC members entered its third day. The four suspended students also continued their sit-in at ‘veligonda’ (Dalit ghetto), a small makeshift tent, where they had been demonstrating since early this month to protest their suspension by the university authorities over an alleged clash with a leader of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).
Rohith, a PhD student, committed suicide by hanging himself in his friend’s hostel room on January 17, triggering protests at the campus and also in other universities in different parts of the country to demand action against those involved in suspension of the students and subjecting them to social boycott.
As many as 13 faculty members belonging to scheduled castes and scheduled tribes have also resigned from their administrative roles to protest Union Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani’s statement that a Dalit professor headed the sub-committee of executive council which suspended the five students.