Rohith had psychological problems, suicide not related to caste: BJP

Hyderabad: Bharatiya Janata Party general secretary P. Muralidhar Rao on Wednesday shielded his party from the allegations arising post the suicide of the dalit scholar in the Hyderabad University, saying that the suicide was in no way related to his caste and alleged that the protests were politically driven.

Rao further said that dalit scholar Rohith Vemula had psychological problems which were revealed in his suicide note. The minister also stood guard of Labour minister Bandaru Dattatreya, saying that when the entire report was received by the latter, he did his job.

Earlier, Rao had said Rohith’s suicide note was in fact an ‘ammunition’ for his party to ‘expose’ the matter.

“Many of his speeches, for which we have videos, show he had views that were supporting terrorists like Yakub Memon,” Rao told a national daily.

He had also said that the context of the clash between the student groups was Rohith’s stand in support of terrorism, including that against the hanging of Yakub Memon.

25-year-old Rohith Vemula, who belonged to Guntur district of Amravati, was doing his PhD in science technology and society studies for the past two years, before the scholar allegedly got involved in a tiff between two student groups in August last year.

The five researchers were supported by 10 other students’ outfits on the campus including ASA, Students Federation of India, Dalit Students Union and National Students Association among others.

On Sunday, the students from each of the outfits had started relay hunger strike asking the university administration to take back the students all of whom hailed from backward socio-economic backgrounds.

The students protested against Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani and Minister of State for Labour and Employment Bandaru Dattatreya.

The students demanded the revoking of the suspension of the five Dalit research scholars. They also demanded Dattatreya’s apology for interfering in University matters and branding the students of University of Hyderabad as casteists, anti-nationals and extremists. (ANI)