Hyderabad: January 17 marks the seventh death anniversary of Rohith Vemula, a Dalit scholar and student of the University of Hyderabad (UoH). In order to commemorate Vemula, the Ambedkar Students’ Association (ASA) has been organising various cultural and political events since the beginning of January.
A Rally of Remembrance is scheduled for 8 pm on Saturday and will start from Men’s Hostel and will continue to Ladies Hostel North via Velivada.
General secretary of the UoH students union 2019-20 and member of ASA, Gopi Swamy, said, “We are organising the event under the banner ‘Justice for Rohith Vemula’. It is open to all. We have sent invitations to all student organizations.”
‘Sit-Out at Velivada’ or ‘A Night of remembrance’ was held by the students on January 13. ‘Rally of remembrance’ will take place on January 14, at 8 pm.
‘Sit-Out at Velivada’ or ‘A Night of remembrance’ consisted of ‘Reading Rohith’, an open forum, and ‘songs of resistance’. According to ASA, it is a symbolic sit-out through the night at Velivada in remembrance of the five wrongfully suspended scholars in 2015 and “to keep the memory of Rohith and the subsequent movement alive”.
The events so far have been attended by distinguished scholars and activists from all around the country. Avanthi, who is the partner of the late Hemanth Kumar who fell victim to the caste killing at the hands of Avanthi’s parents, and Advocate Jai Bheema Rao were the speakers at the ‘Rohith Remembrance Day’.
Rohith Shahadath Din is observed every year on January 17 to observe and commemorate the seven years of denied justice.
