Union Minister of State for Textiles Santosh Kumar Gangwar on Thursday termed the row following the suicide of Rohith Vemula, research scholar, on the campus of University of Hyderabad, as “political.”
He asked, “Who says Vemula is a Dalit? He is not. The issue is only political.”
Mr. Gangwar, however, said that he would not blame any political party. He was speaking to reporters during a visit to the Palladam Hi-Tech Weaving Park, near here.
When asked specifically by The Hindu whether he was certain that Vemula was not a Dalit, he said: “Someone told that he belongs to OBC category.” When pointed out that Vemula was an active Dalit leader of the Ambedkar Students Association and an Ambedkar follower, the Union Minister said that even he admires Ambedkar and that did not mean anyone belonged to a particular community.
