Promulgation of a ‘Rohith Act’, on the lines of Nirbhaya Act, has been raised as a prominent demand by students of the University of Hyderabad agitating over the death of scholar Rohith Vemula, who committed suicide on January 17.
The demand was made by members of the JAC for Social Justice on Monday in the presence of students and scholars from across the country.
Academics, intellectuals and activists arrived as part of the ‘Chalo HCU’ programme, and announced their solidarity with the ongoing protests.
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“We demand that a Rohith Act be introduced and implemented which will ensure legislative protection for students from marginalised communities in higher educational institutions,” said the JAC members. The JAC demanded the sacking of Union Human Resource Minister Smriti Irani.
A national level JAC was constituted with a call to observe nation-wide protests until the demands were met. They also called for an all-India universities’ strike on January 27 as also a march to the Ministry of Human Resource.
Earlier in the day, the police set up check points on the routes leading to the campus, and at the main entrance to the university.
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Former MP Aziz Pasha and other politicians were denied entry while students from various institutions such as IIT Bombay, IIT Madras, JNU, Andhra University, MANUU, TISS, EFLU, and Osmania University, were allowed to participate in the protests.