Hyderabad: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday hit out at University of Hyderabad vice-chancellor Prof. Appa Rao Podile and Union minister and BJP MP from Secunderabad Bandaru Dattatreya holding them responsible for creating conditions which led to the suicide of research scholar Rohith Vemula in the university on Sunday. He said they did not act in a fair manner.
Mr Gandhi was speaking after meeting Radhika Vemula and Raja Vemula, mother and brother of Rohith.
Continuing his attack on Prof. Podile, he said that the vice-chancellor did not have the basic decency or the dignity to meet the aggrieved mother of Rohith when she came to the university on Monday.
He also demanded that the Mr Appa Rao should be sacked and that there is no question of him continuing in the university.
Speaking on the role of universities as places which should play a role in nurturing freedom of expression of students, Mr Gandhi said that educational institutions instead of letting students speak are crushing them.
Mr Gandhi said that Rohith’s death has caused a great loss to the family and that compensation has to be provided to his family along with a job to one of the family members so that they have a future which Rohith would have built for them.
He also said that all those people who are responsible for Rohith’s death should be punished in the strictest manner possible.
