If the suicide note was considered important, portions of the scratched-out content appear to be of more importance now.
Rohith Vemula, who took the extreme step, probably got disillusioned, if one were to go by the words he had scratched out.
“The Ambedkar Students Association, the Students Federation of India, anything and everything exist for their own sake. Seldom the interest of a person and an organisation matches. To get power, to become famous or to be important in between boundaries and to think we are up to changing the system, very often we overestimate the acts and find solace in traits. Of course I must give credit to both these groups for making, introducing me to wonderful literature and people.”
These were the words written by Rohith in his suicide note but later scratched out, ostensibly by himself.
When the scratched-out portions made headlines, the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of agitating students, primarily belonging to the Ambedkar Students Association (ASA) went into a huddle, discussing the pros and cons of the expression of a late scholar about the goings-on in student organisations.
The police investigating the suicide case are said to have forwarded it to a forensic agency to establish whether the same pen was used to write the letter and then scratch out the other portions.
After much discussion, the ASA woke up to the reality and admitted to the media that differences of opinion were common in any organisation.
Another member of the committee said Rohith’s suicide letter bore a social history of caste violence embedded in it and that it was not what one could term an ‘emotional outburst’.
