Hyderabad: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday visited University of Hyderabad students, who have been protesting over the suicide of Dalit PhD student Rohith Vemula.
Dismissing criticism of politicising the incident, the Congress leader said, "There is no question of politicising student's death," adding that "there should not be no discrimination in an institution on the basis of caste, creed and religion."
Blaming the university vice chancellor and Union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya for the happening, the Gandhi scion alleged that the condition of Vemula's death was set by them.
"I have come here for Rohith, but he is not alone. Every student, every university has this problem," said Rahul Gandhi.
He added, "I have not come here as a politician, I have come as a young person who understands your concern."
In addition to the demand for compensation for Vemula's family, the Congress leader said that the vice chancellor had no right to continue in his post.
Rahul Gandhi paid his condolences to Vemula's family and interacted with students, including the four Dalit students who were suspended along with him.
This comes even as students have stepped up protests against Union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya and the Vice-Chancellor over the suicide of Dalit PhD scholar Rohith Vemula in Central University at Hyderabad.
In order to build up pressure over the government to sack the Union Minister, the Telangana Jagruti Yuva Morcha held protest outside Dattatreya's residence in Hyderabad.
Section 144 has been imposed on the campus barring large congregations to avoid any untoward incident.
Meanwhile, Human Resources Development Minister Smriti Irani has sent a team to the campus to probe the incident. Official sources said that the team led by Shakila T Shamsu, OSD in the HRD ministry, will be accompanied by a Deputy Secretary level officer Surat Singh to look into the entire matter and submit the report to the ministry.
In an attempt to shield the government, Social Welfare Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot has sought a report from the Telangana government in the suicide case. This comes after ICSSR chairman Sukhdeo Thorat met Gehlot on Monday and also submitted a memorandum to Irani on the suicide case. The five expelled student including Rohith had met Thorat on December 28, 2015 in Hyderabad and gave him a memo seeking help. Thorat had asked ministers to intervene in the matter.
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