'I feel discriminated, humiliated, and denied opportunities', Rohith Vemula's mother Radhika quits Amnesty

Radhika Vemula, the mother of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula, who committed suicide in January 2016 following a controversy in the Hyderabad University, has filed her resignation at the Amnesty International following a shocking incident at her workplace. She took this decision as a result of being victim to the alleged ‘discrimination against Dalits and Muslims, especially women in the organization'.

Radhika Vemula has further decided to start a campaign against the Amnesty International after one of their employees named Mariya Salim resigned as a protest against the discriminatory practices in the organization.

“I had stepped into space where the understanding of senior managers about issues of marginalization and discrimination and on ground community engagement with the most disenfranchised was limited and their behaviour towards staff coming from diverse backgrounds such as mine was averse. Unemployed now, as I write this, my only regret is not being braver and resigning earlier,” said Radhika Vemula, asking the organization to take her videos down from their official website.

Calling out the hypocrisy in the organization, Radhika Vemula who is a human rights activist wrote this in her resignation letter to the organization:

"I feel discriminated, humiliated, excluded and denied opportunities, unfairly. Being a Human Rights Activist, who has experience of working on the field, on advocacy, with communities as well as other actors, I refuse being subjected to this behaviour and will not allow being judged based on biases and misinformation".

While she had been facing continuous discrimination in the organization mental torcher, harassment and gender discrimination in the organization, Rohith Vemula's mother has expressed deep regrets for not resigning earlier.

"Until action is taken against the management involved in discrimination, I withdraw my support given to Amnesty International India. Injustice meted out to Dalits and Muslims is intolerable. I extend my solidarity to Mariya Salim," she added.

Read: BJP Slams Opposition, Claims Rahul Gandhi And His Ally Used Rohith Vemula As A ‘prop

In 2016, Amnesty International India had faced huge flak by the protesters in India after the organization was accused of sedition, following which they shut down their offices temporarily and postponed their campaigns and events due to safety concerns.

After the unfortunate death of her son Rohith Vemula, mother Radhika Vemula actively ran campaigns in the country, seeking justice for him. Radhika currently lives in Sangadigunta, on the outskirts of Guntur city in the Andhra Pradesh capital region. Her younger son Raja, who is an auto driver in the region extends financial support to her.