Radhika Vemula, mother of Rohith Vemula, the deceased Dalit research scholar of University of Hyderabad, said she will fight for Dalit women’s rights till the end of her life.
She was addressing a gathering at UoH on the occasion of 119th death anniversary of Dalit women leader Savitribai Phule. Explaining how she had faced caste discrimination right from her childhood, Ms. Vemula said here on Thursday that she has made the conscious choice to fight for Dalit students in educational institutions in the country. “I thought caste discrimination that Rohith faced along with me would end when he entered a university. But all my hopes were shattered as my son fell prey to caste discrimination,” Ms. Vemula said as she inaugurated the meet. At the occasion she reminded students that Rohith Vemula had organised the last anniversary celebration of Savitribai Phule in UoH. “I came to the university today as I remembered that my son had organised this event last year,” an emotional Ms. Vemula said. Describing how she had faced discrimination at her workplace and the adoptive home she lived in, Ms. Vemula said she was not allowed to sit in common dining places at the tailoring shop she worked in as she was a Dalit. “After I separated from my husband I had moved into the house of the family that adopted me. My children were not fed well in that house. We were treated badly as we were Dalits,” Ms. Vemula said. Ms. Vemula also said she and her younger son Raja Vemula have adopted Buddhism and will be following the footsteps of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar and other Dalit leaders in India. “It is because of Rohith that I could speak here.
