The ‘Concerned Citizens of Hyderabad’, a civil society group comprising former chief secretary Kaki Madhava Rao and former MLC Chukka Ramaiah, has found fault with the observation by the One-man Commission appointed by the Union Ministry for Human Resources Development (MHRD), that Rohith Vemula was not a Dalit.
Portions of the report by the former Allahabad High Court judge A.K. Rupanwal were leaked to the media after it was submitted to the MHRD last week.
Mr. Madhava Rao, addressing a media conference here on Thursday, said that the Commission had gone beyond its brief in commenting over the caste of the deceased scholar from the University of Hyderabad who had committed suicide in January this year, after being expelled from hostels and certain other spaces of the university.
“Terms of reference is fixed for any commission constituted by the Government. If the Commission goes beyond the terms of reference, there ought to be some devious purpose,” Mr. Madhava Rao said.
Tahsildar is the competent authority for determining caste as per the law and district collector is the appellate authority. The Guntur District Collector had, when summoned by the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, had certified that Rohith was a dalit. “In what authority can the Commission make any comment on his caste, when the competent authorities have already certified him to be a dalit?” Mr. Madhava Rao questioned.
Political motives are the reason behind the selective leak, as Rohith’s dalit identity could have severe consequences for the accused, he said. Besides, raising a controversy around his identity could discredit the scholar who has attained national and international fame.
Rohith’s maternal grandmother Anjani Devi and paternal grand father Venkateshwarlu testified that his mother Radhika had been adopted by her family and her original caste status was SC Mala, he said.
Mr. Chukka Ramaiah advised the Government to address the problems of the dalit students in universities across the country, rather than harping on Rohith’s caste.
Senior journalist and special officer for Budhavanam Project Mallepally Laxmaiah accused both the State Government and the Centre for being irresponsible and asked the Telangana Government to fulfil its promise made in the legislative Assembly.
