Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday demanded that the name of Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani be included in the First Information Report (FIR) on the suicide of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula.
On the fourth day of the agitation by students on the University of Hyderabad campus, it was the turn of the Delhi Chief Minister to fly down to Hyderabad to interact with the students and express his solidarity.
Earlier in the day, 10 Dalit faculty members of the university resigned from their administrative posts protesting the ‘misleading’ remarks of the Union HRD Minister.
Addressing a well-attended gathering of students and social activists at the campus, he demanded the arrest of Union Ministers Ms. Irani and Bandaru Dattatreya and others named in the FIR because it contained non-bailable sections. Others who are accused in the FIR included MLC N. Rmachandra Rao and ABVP leader N. Susheel Kumar.
Mr. Kejriwal said that there was no proof of violence between Ambedkar Students’ Association and the Akhila Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad. However, it was strange that the ABVP university incharge Susheel Kumar had been shifted to hospital exactly two days later, complaining of injuries for which there was no conclusive medical evidence.
He wondered how suddenly Mr. Dattatreya came into the picture and wrote a letter to Ms. Irani about the university becoming a den of casteist, extremist and anti-national politics.
The day also saw CPI national general secretary Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy and secretary D. Raja meeting the protesting students. Mr. Raja said: “Mr. Modi found time to express his condolences to Peshawar victims but strangely did not find enough time to condole the death of Rohith Vemula’.
Lok Satta Party national president N. Jayaprakash Narayan also met the students.
Police have been present in full forcey since Thursday morning to prevent embarrassing moments and had a watchful eye over those from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi members on campus and in the immediate vicinity of the UoH campus.
