RSS suppressing Dalit voices with Centre’s help: Mayawati

New Delhi : The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Wednesday accused the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of suppressing the voice of Dalits with the help of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Government at the Centre.

Commenting on Rohith Vemula’s suicide at the University of Hyderabad, BSP supremo Mayawati said the varsity’s administration and students, along with the RSS and the BJP, were responsible for the Dalit student’s suicide.

“In Hyderabad University issue, our party holds the administration, students, two ministers at the Centre and their RSS organisation responsible for it. This is not the first case of Dalit student suicide in Hyderabad University, even during the Congress regime, several Dalits were oppressed and they committed suicide,” she told reporters outside Parliament here.

“Dalit students had formed a forum in the name of Baba Sahib Ambedkar. That forum had begun to grow, students were raising their voices against Dalit oppression there, but the current government did not like it. Then RSS with the help from Central government target them, they were oppressed, because of which Rohith Committed suicide,” she added.

She also requested the government to include a Dalit in the panel constituted to probe Rohith Vemula’s matter.

Meanwhile, the Rajya Sabha witnessed repeated adjournments today following uproar over Rohith Vemula’s suicide.

Mayawati raised this issue as soon as the House met for the day and said the ‘Dalit students are targeted’.

Rohith, who committed suicide last month, was among the five research scholars suspended by the Hyderabad University in August last year over an alleged assault case.

The matter took a political turn with allegations that the extreme step taken by Rohith was a result of discrimination against Dalit students at the behest of Union Minister of State for Labour Bandaru Dattatreya, following his letter to the Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani, seeking action against their ‘anti-national acts’. (ANI)