Hyderabad: The demand for a Rohith Act to end discrimination against students from marginalised communities in educational institutions was raised on Sunday by student leaders from universities at an event conducted by the All India Thematic Social Forum. The BJP and the RSS came under heavy criticism from all student leaders.
Mr Kanhaiya Kumar, JNU Students Union president, who was arrested on charges of sedition earlier this year, said that while some youths were busy playing Candy Crush, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was playing “democracy crush”.
He said that the country does not need “bhakti or Modi bhakts” and called Mr Donald Trump, the US Republican Presidential candidate, an “English speaking Modi.”
Mr Khushnawaz Rashid, a Kashmiri student at Maulana Azad National Urdu University, said that when she was expelled for holding protests she too felt like committing suicide like Rohith Vemula. Ms Radhika Vemula inaugurated the event and blamed UoH V-C Prof Appa Rao Podile for her son's death.
Mr Kanhaiya Kumar and other students later paid tributes at the Rohith Vemula statue on the UoH campus. Pictures of the event went online and a section of students protested his entry. The UoH had prohibited entry of outsiders in March. When contacted, pro-vice chancellor Prof. Vipin Srivastava said the varsity would inquire into how they had entered the campus.
