Rohith Vemula
| Date | 17 January 2016 |
|---|---|
| Location | Hyderabad, Telangana, India |
| Cause | Suicide by hanging |
Rohith Chakravarti Vemula was an Indian PhD student at the University of Hyderabad and author of the book Caste is Not a Rumor. Rohith was a student activist of the Ambedkar Students' Association (ASA) who committed suicide on 17 January 2016. His death occurred after a controversy which extended over several months starting in July 2015. In July 2015, the University reportedly stopped paying him a fellowship of ₹25,000 (US$390) per month after he was found "raising issues under the banner of Ambedkar Students Association (ASA)" as part of institute's disciplinary inquiry.
On 3 August 2015 Rohith Vemula and four other ASA-activists demonstrated against the death penalty for Yakub Memon, a convicted terrorist involved in the 1993 Bombay bombings and condemned the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) attack on the screening of the documentary Muzaffarnagar Baaqi Hai in Delhi University. In response ABVP's local leader Nandanam Susheel Kumar called them "goons," where-after Kumar was confronted in his hostel room. The next day Kumar was taken to hospital and operated for an acute appendicitis. He stated that he was "roughed up by around 40 ASA members who barged into my room."
The ABVP wrote a letter to Union Minister Dattatreya, alleging that the ASA members were indulging in 'casteist' and 'anti-national' activities. The letter was forwarded to Union Human Resource Minister Smriti Irani, and then to the university’s Vice-Chancellor professor P. Appa Rao, whereafter Rohith Vemula and four other ASA-members were suspended and barred from their hostel. After the confirmation of the suspension in January 2016, Rohith Vemula committed suicide.
His suicide sparked protests and outrage from across India and gained widespread media attention as an alleged case of discrimination against Dalits, in which elite educational institutions have been purportedly seen as hotbeds of caste-based discrimination against students belonging to lower caste.
Rohith Vemula being the child of a woman who was adopted into an OBC family, Rohit Vemula's mother was treated differently to the rest of her adoptive family. A witness has also spoken about the abuse of Rohit's mother by her husband (Rohit's father), which can be seen as caste as well as gender violence. Rohit's own distress in seeing his mother abused and treated as inferior, was made clear to his friends. His political activities make it clear that due to his and his mother's experiences, Rohit Vemula identified as Dalit, and was advocating for Dalit rights.
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