New Delhi: Reacting strongly to the Telangana police closure report into the Rohith Vemula death case, Union Minister Smriti Irani while speaking exclusively to Republic Media Network's Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami lambasted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for 'using a young man's life as a pawn on a political chess board. "I am grateful to God that truth has prevailed", the Union Minister told Arnab. Her statement comes after the Telangana Police filed a closure report before a local court in its probe into the death of Rohith Vemula, a student of the University of Hyderabad, claiming he was not a Dalit and died by suicide as he feared that his ‘real identity’ would be discovered.  

For the unversed, Vemula's death was cynically turned into a divisive political narrative, pitting Dalits against Non-Dalits. “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. 

Today, the Telangana police closure report has left Congress and Opposition leaders searching for answers. Earlier in the day, when confronted by the Republic over the issue (Rohith Vemula case), Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also ducked the question. 

What Smriti Told Arnab | Highlights

• It is a sensitive issue and Mr. Gandhi could go to any extent to lie. I hope people today are realising the deadly political games of the Gandhis
• God and truth truly prevail.
• A young man's life was reduced to a political one-upmanship game. Rahul Gandhi used a young man's life as a pawn on a political chess board. I am grateful to God that truth has prevailed
• Imagine, the dangers to the country if such a whimsical, political oligarch ever gets power. He (Rahul Gandhi) is vindictive. 

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.