The Death of
Rohit Vemula is a Murder Committed by the Hindu Communal Forces .
PDSO.{
Progressive Democratic Students Organization}
(Published in
'Class Struggle' magazine of CPI(ML))
Friends,
Rohith Vemula was one of the active leaders of ASA (Ambedkar Students
Association) in Hyderabad Central University (HCU). It was recorded
that he committed suicide by hanging on 17th January 2016. He was
from Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh. It is a fact that Hindutva
forces have been trying to get a hold in HCU for a long time. It is
crystal clear that these forces have been threatening the students
belonging to oppressed castes and classes and also are indulging in
cheap and undemocratic tactics. With a nexus between the university
administration and Hindutva forces many Dalit students and students
with progressive views were targeted. After BJP came to power in the
centre, HRD Ministry started to intervene directly and enhance the
oppression by favouring their allies and influencing the
administration in decision making.
Rohith was a voracious reader, writer and student leader. He was a
bright student and JRF scholar. Not only HCU but Public Universities
are supporting and encouraging the bright and meritorious students
especially from poor and backward classes. Students enter the
‘varsities with great hope and big dreams. As students acquire to
some extent democratic and progressive ideology naturally they
respond to the social injustice in their own way. They are also
trying to understand the developments and crises in the world, by
smelling beforehand the crisis in the society. On the other hand the
self-centred professors in the university are rousing emotions of the
students by their policies. The communal forces especially in this
Central University naturally did not like the democratic aspirations
of the students. They demand the students to support their orthodox
ideology and threaten those with different types of punishment if
they defy them.
Rohith was one of the many who received such a threat. Oppression in
HUC is not a novel feature. Back in 2002, 10 Dalit students were
rusticated in a similar fashion and the present VC Prof. Apparao then
as a hostel warden played a crucial role in it too. Many such
incidents of oppression and discrimination took place in the last 15
years. Along with ASA several progressive student organisations have
organised several struggles, expressed solidarity to many democratic
and progressive movements and many lectures and literary meetings
were arranged by inviting intellectuals and writers.
In the recent times, protests and demonstrations were organised
against the ban on Periyar Study Circle of IIT-M, against the beef
ban, against capital punishment, against Muzzafarnagar riots and
against the attacks on Lakshmipeta Dalits. Rohith and his friends
have actively participated in all these agitations. They participated
in the programmes of joint action committees. All the students are
very familiar with the slogans and comments posted by Rohit in his
face book.
This may be one of the reasons for the anger of communalists against
Rohith. The audios and videos installed in the internet by ABVP bear
witness to this. ABVP leader Sushil posted obscene comments in the
face book on the occasion of the screening of the documentary,
‘Muzaffarnagar Baaki Hai’ in HCU. In the presence of the
security guard, he gave a written apology to those students who
approached him for the same. This is represented wrongly as an attack
on Susheel. The communalists used Susheel as a tool in foisting a
false case against five students, including Rohith. They also created
cinematic scenes in the hospital and released them through media. All
this is a planned strategy of the communal forces. These forces used
to incite their students, sometimes directly and some other times
indirectly by holding rallies in HCU. As it is not possible nowadays
to pour led in their ears as imposed by Manu, they implicated the
students in false cases. Even before the Enquiry committee had not
come to a final conclusion these forces were successful in getting a
VC of their own choice, and form a new committee, and expel the
students etc. They forced the VC not to include any democratic member
in the committee and to enhance the punishment to the students.
They further forced through Central Ministers and through series of
letters from Human Resource Department and those letters bear witness
to all this.These forces were not satisfied even though the
university authorities had declared social boycott of the five
students.Though those students had erected a make shift tent and
named it ‘ Dalit ghetto ’( veliwada’), and continued their
protest no university official responded to their demands. As the
students tried to gather solidarity and to explain the injustice
caused to them instead of trying for a solution, the people at the
helm with their feudal dictatorial mind have continued their
harassments and pressures. They tried to get judgments at court in
their favour. Unable to bear all this Rohith had written a letter 10
days back to the V C. The essence of the letter was requesting him to
“provide a bottle of poison to Dalit students at the time of
admission itself so that they may use it whenever they face a
helpless condition. “ The death of Rohit who supported and who had
led many agitations and struggles is definitely to be treated as the
murder committed by Hindutva fanatic forces.
In fact this is the second case on Rohith by ABVP. In September 2013
Rohit has posted a poem of Sri Sri, “Tom Tom” in his face book.
The Hindutva forces filed a complaint in police station against Rohit
that he had offended Lord Ganesha by posting that poem of Sri Sri and
put him behind the bars.Rohith was in forefront in condemning
discrimination in the name of religion and caste .He was objecting,
questioning, and reacting to many issues and incidents around him and
this appeared as extremist politics to the ruling class. These
fascist forces want to impose their views on what to eat , what to
wear , how to wear, what to talk, what book to read, what poem to be
posted on face book , how to walk etc. Anyone who disobeys their
orders was indirectly threatened.
The spirit of democratic solidarity that is slowly budding again in
the university had become an obstacle and the HRD is resolved to
pluck it off. In this background the death of Rohith has thrown a
challenge to the student community. Is it not the duty of the student
community to express solidarity to the agitations of different
classes of people who are waging struggles against oppression,
exploitation and against the worldwide crisis of exploiting classes
and crisis in India as a part of it? When the oppressive acts are
being continued by discriminating people in new forms based on caste,
religion, food habits is it not necessary to move forward
collectively instead of becoming victims of intolerance and
hopelessness? This is the challenge before the student world. The
history of student movement did not entertain hopelessness.
In the past the student world had the history of extending solidarity
to the struggles against the exploiting class. So PDSO wishes and
desires to move forward by imbibing that fighting spirit. Let us
oppose the Private Universities which are for money, and which
revolve round money. Let us oppose and fight against the conspiracy
of destroying the Govt Universities. Let us stay away from wrong
ideals and wrong thoughts. Let us fight against the exploitative
policies of the ruling classes which are converting our universities
in to the heaps of dust bins. Let us fight against the exploitative
policies which degrade our universities into centers of outdated,
useless and dirty ideologies and centers of manufacturing
imperialistic agents. We have to fight back the ideology of communal
forces who give slogans of pseudo patriotism and who do not believe
that a country means its people. These communal forces should be
defeated.
Though the imperialists and MNC s are looting away our resources
these communal forces keep silent. They are working as watch dogs to
the exploitation. They cannot act for a long time showing the pseudo
love towards the people of the country. We have to expose them. In
the guise of nation’s unity they cannot deceive people for a long
time. We have to explain in detail to the students and people how
much patriotism is there among these forces who cannot tolerate even
a slight improvement in the lives of people who are being suppressed
under the MNC s and exploiting forces. To stand for nation means
standing for the people, working for the enlightenment of oppressed
classes, walking shoulder to shoulder with forces fighting for the
people. Continuation of consistent progressive student movements and
dedication for the people will be the real tribute to Rohit.
Progressive Democratic Students Organisation (PDSO)
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