Political Pawn? How Rohith Vemula's Death Was Used by Opposition to Target BJP

New Delhi: The recent closure report filed by Telangana police regarding the death of Rohith Vemula, a Dalit research scholar at the University of Hyderabad, has left Opposition parties red-faced as the report's findings have brought their politicisation over the tragedy (Vemula's demise) under intense scrutiny. One of the key assertions made in the report is that Vemula did not belong to the Scheduled Caste (SC) category, and it suggests that he took his own life out of fear that his "real caste identity" would be uncovered. Moreover, the report alleged that the caste certificates of Vemula's family were forged, although no substantial evidence has been provided to support this claim.

Did Rahul Gandhi, And Other Opposition Leaders Make Up Facts? 

Vemula's death was cynically turned into a divisive political narrative, pitting Dalits against Non-Dalits. Besides Rahul Gandhi, AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal had left no stone unturned to target the Centre. Their actions not only exploited a sensitive tragedy for political mileage but also worsened the existing societal tensions.

“They say Rohit Vemula committed suicide, I call it murder. He was murdered by the indignities he suffered. He was killed because he was a Dalit. Hitler, once wrote: Keep a firm grasp on reality, so you can strangle it at any time. This is what is happening today-strangulation of reality,” Rahul had tweeted back in 2017.   

Hitting out at the Modi government over Vemula’s death, Kejriwal had claimed that Rohith Vemula was forced to commit suicide "for talking about B R Ambedkar among students" and demanded that the "two ministers" responsible for it be sacked. He had also taken a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking whether the Dalit icon's dreams would be fulfilled by merely garlanding his portraits and said "There was no freedom of speech in the country".  

"Vemula was forced to commit suicide for talking about Babasaheb among students. Why are people who are holding constitutional offices not acting against those who forced him to commit suicide? Will Babasaheb's dream be fulfilled by the Prime Minister going to Mhou and garlanding his portrait? Babasaheb gave three words liberty, equality and fraternity...They say don't chant Bharat Mata ki Jai in Kashmir and beat them up who don't say it in the rest of the country. There's no freedom of speech in the country. There's no equality. There's no fraternity. They say one is a patriot and the other anti-national, Kashmiri and non-Kashmiri, JNU wallah and non-JNU wallah," he had stated. 

What Does The Telangana Police Report Say?

• Rohith Vemula took his own life amid various stressors, including his poor performance on the academic front due to his active involvement in campus politics and the discovery that his mother had arranged a fraudulent Scheduled Caste (SC) certificate for him.
• “The deceased person was deeply engaged in student politics and other non-academic activities while on campus. This heavy involvement might have detracted from their focus on their studies, as evidenced by their discontinuation of their first PhD after two years and the lack of progress in their second PhD due to non-academic pursuits,” the police report read.
• The report, which came just 10 days before voting in Telangana, stated that the deceased himself was aware that he did not belong to Scheduled Caste and that his mother got him a SC certificate. This could be one of the constant fears as the exposure of the same would result in a loss of his academic degrees that he earned over the years and be compelled to face prosecution
• "The deceased had multiple issues worrying him which could have driven him to commit suicide," it stated further. 
• "Despite best efforts, no evidence could be found to establish that the actions of the accused have driven the deceased to commit suicide," it added.  
   

Rohith Vemula Suicide

The tragic death of 26-year-old Rohith Vemula, who hung himself in his hostel room at Hyderabad Central University on January 17, 2016, ignited widespread protests. The unrest began on the campus immediately following his death and quickly spread to other parts of the country, including the national capital Delhi. Rohith Vemula, a member of the Ambedkar Students’ Association, was actively involved in advocating for the rights of Dalit students on the campus of Hyderabad Central University. Alongside four other Dalit students, he was protesting against their expulsion from the university’s housing facility.