Politics over Hyderabad varsity student V Rohith's caste, Dalit or not a Dalit?

New Delhi: There are attempts by some political sections in Hyderabad to assert that suicide victim Vemula Rohith was not a Dalit at all. Newspapers are saying that he enrolled in the university not as a Dalit but in the general category. Some sections in Hyderabad are also claiming that there is a dispute on the original caste of Rohith. These sections are circulating two purported caste certificates. One says he is a Vaddera (OBC) while another says he is a Mala (SC). The second letter is, strangely, dated June 2015.

The entire attempt is primarily to distance the ABVP and the BJP, and therefore Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani and Secunderabad MP Bandaru Dattatreya from the "Dalit" angle of the suicide. The latter and the university Vice Chancellor are already booked under the newly passed SC/ST Act. It is very stringent and the Rohith case may be the first high profile case to be taken up under this Act. The BJP being seen as anti-Dalit has incalculable perceptional disadvantages.

The attempt is also to divert attention at a time when the BJP is consciously and proactively pursuing a pro-Dalit political strategy in Uttar Pradesh. Some sections are also distributing CDs that show Rohith arguing with ABVP members – in Telugu – after the Ambedkar Student Association tore some ABVP posters on the campus sometime in 2015.

CNN-IBN/IBNLIVE have accessed both the birth certificates. The first birth certificate is in Telugu. It is a statement of Radhika w/o Vemula Marikumar of Gurajala village under Guntur Mandal of Vaddera caste in July, 2014. It is a statement about the birth of a male child to her who was christened Raja Chaitanya Kumar. It is attested by the Mandal Revenue Inspector. The wife’s signature is in English.

The second birth certificate is an e-copy of the community, nativity and date of birth certificate issued by the AP revenue department which says Rohit is Mala by caste.

The first attachment indirectly tries to suggest that Rohit is as Vaddera. The second attachment directly tries to suggest that Rohit is a Mala.

The attempt is also to divert attention at a time when the BJP is consciously and proactively pursuing a pro-Dalit political strategy in Uttar Pradesh.