Hyderabad: AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Thursday said that Rohith Vemula was a voice for unity of the oppressed. Owaisi remembered Vemula, former student of University of Hyderabad, on his death anniversary.
Taking to Twitter, Owaisi said that more efforts should be taken to make universities more inclusive. The institutional murder of Rohith three years ago should not be forgotten. His absence is felt among those who defied Hindutva, he added.
On 17 January 2016, Vemula, a PhD scholar at the University of Hyderabad, committed suicide in a hostel room on the campus as he was reportedly upset over the disciplinary action taken against him by the university.
His death triggered a huge political storm. Opposition parties launched a massive attack on the BJP and the university administration of being anti-Dalit. However, a panel set up by the HRD ministry to probe the scholar’s death had said that the material on record did not establish the caste of the deceased and attributed his suicide to personal reasons.