New Delhi: With a political storm brewing over the suicide of a dalit research scholar at Hyderabad University, Union human resources development minister Smriti Irani hit back at the BJP’s political rivals and accused them of attempting to “instigate” students across the country over the issue and dismissed demands for her resignation.
Flanked by three ministers, she took on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, saying the party wants to “shoot” on the issue, which was “expected, but unfortunate”. The minister noted that the ABVP student who was attacked in student rivalry belonged to the OBC community as was Union minister of state Bandaru Dattatreya, who had written a letter to her about the attack.
Attacking the Opposition parties for politicising the “unfortunate” incident, the BJP also “smelt” a conspiracy by the Opposition to give a caste and communal colour to incidents whenever elections were nearing, hinting at the coming elections to the Greater Hyderaba Municipal Corporation.
Congress seeks probe by High Court judge
While climbing down from its demand for HRD minister Smriti Irani’s resignation, the Congress insisted on a probe by a sitting High Court judge against her and also Bandaru Dattatreya and the university authorities.
The party also urged the PM to “break his si-lence and take concrete action” in this case, and also sack Mr Dattatreya.
Claiming that a “malicious attempt” was bei-ng made to project the suicide as a “Dalit versus non-dalit” battle, Ms Irani denied allegations that her ministry’s intervention through letters had led to Rohith’s suicide.
Attacking the Congress, she produced a letter by Congress MP V. Hanumantha Rao, written to her in November 2014 seeking her intervention on some issues, including suicide by students of some marginalised communities in four years due to “caste discrimination”.
Ms Irani added: “Why did the Congress not debate and fix the issue then? Why it is debating it now?”
Smriti’s claims rebutted by suspended students
Minutes after Union minister Smriti Irani finished her defence in the Rohith Vemula suicide case, Dontha Prashant, one of the four research scholars who were suspended from the hostel along with Rohith, put out various documents to rebut her claims.
Mr Prashant said a passage in Rohith’s suicide note — on man being reduced to his nearest identity and his ideas not being given priority — was an indication of caste discrimination, to rebut her claim that the scholar had not spoken of the issue. Mr Prashanth denied the claim of Ms Irani and the UoH that the dean of students welfare were in constant touch and said the official had never come to meet them.
On the mention of Ambedkar Students Association in Rohith’s suicide note, which Ms Irani said was the only reference related to the university, Mr Prashanth said she was “hiding behind the struck off lines in the press note to protect Mr Bandaru Dattatreya and your ministry.”
On sending the MHRD team to UoH, Mr Prashanth said, “The two people did not come with written orders of the inquiry when they came to meet us. They showed no seriousness at all.” Another student said Ms Irani referring to the suspension from hostels as a “small punishment” showed how serious the ministry was on the issue.
Only forwarded letters: Bandaru Dattatreya
Union minister Bandaru Dattatreya on Wednesday reiterated that he had only forwarded two representations received from the ABVP to the Union HRD ministry and did not influence the UoH to suspend the students. Stating that he belongs to the downtrodden section of society, he said he would have “happily forwarded” representations received from any other student body like the one he had done for the ABVP. He said he had forwarded representations on August 10 and August 29 last year. He said in his covering letter he had only wished things in the campus would change for the better. He expressed anguish over the suicide of Rohith Vemula.
