Hyderabad: The People’s Tribunal on Caste Discrimination and Police Action in University of Hyderabad, headed by retired Madras High Court judge, Justice K Chandru, which conducted a hearing in April this year on the suicide of Dalit PhD scholar Rohith Vemula, released its report on Thursday.
In its report, the tribunal pulled up the UoH administration for the suicide of Rohith Vemula and made several recommendations. The tribunal held that UoH had been "unpardonably negligent" in preventing recurrence of suicide of students despite recommendations from earlier committees and directions from the court.
It said, "As a minimal example of neglect, there is still no provision in the University Act to set up grievance redressal bodies to remove discriminatory practices adopted by the university officials."
The tribunal recommended that the university should immediately implement the earlier High Court order on institution of a special commission to review disciplinary order. The tribunal also recommended instituting an equal opportunity cell headed by an anti-discrimination officer and grievance redressal cell headed by the ombudsman.
The tribunal also said in its report, as a note to UoH, that dissent is core to critical thinking and needs to be allowed and protected within the university campus and that dialogue and debate should be integral part of academic life.
The tribunal was formed by concerned faculty members from UoH and activists from Hyderabad after the police crackdown on protesting students in March.
