Hyderabad: The BJP on Tuesday alleged that PhD scholar Rohith Vemula “stood in support of terrorism” in the Yakub Memon hanging issue.
BJP national general secretary P. Muralidhar Rao said the scholar’s suicide had nothing to do with Dalit issues or rights. Mr Rao said, “the context of the clash between student groups was Rohith’s stand in support of terrorism, including against the hanging of Yakub Memon.”
“Rohith Vemula;s suicide note is self-revealing. Connecting incidents related to his ideological adversaries is baseless and orchestrated,” Mr Rao said. He claimed it was “clearly evident” from the suicide note that “Rohith was in conflict with himself.”
“Disciplinary action was taken against Rohith on the advice of the court and a lenient stand was taken by the university authorities by permitting him to stay in the campus except the hostel,” Mr Rao said.
He said the suicide had been made into a political issue by the Congress, a section of media and some political and non-political groups. “Nowhere in the note, has he (Rohith) has made any reference to his friends or enemies as the reason for his decision to commit suicide,” he said.
He called Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s “hurried visit” to the UoH campus “unprincipled behaviour” and said it was “unfortunate” that a national party was “stooping to such levels.”
He said the Congress had done gross injustice to Dr B.R. Ambedkar and “harassed him all through his life.”
Lift suspension of others, urge TRS
TRS MP Konda Vishweshwar Reddy on Tuesday met the two-member HRD committee and sought immediate lifting of suspension of four PhD scholars.
He urged the team, comprising officer on special duty Shakila T. Shamsu and deputy secretary Surat Singh, to release the Rs1.75 lakh fellowship due to the students. “I don’t want to politicise the issue.
Let the inquiry be taken to a logical end,” he told. UoH falls in the Lok Sabha constituency represented by Mr Vishweshwar Reddy.
Similarly, Telangana BJP president G. Kishan Reddy accused rival parties of targeting Union minister Bandaru Dattatreya and the BJP though they had no connection with the suicide.
He claimed the students had been suspended before Mr Dattatreya wrote to the ministry.
He said the ABVP activist was attacked early on August 4, and the five scholars were suspended August 31 and Mr Dattatreya had written to the ministry on September 17.
