Hyderabad: The Hyderabad Central University on Sunday removed the ‘Velivada’ on the campus on Sunday morning, the place where Rohith Vemula and four other Dalit research scholars had protested after they were evicted from the hostel.
Rohith Vemula’s third death anniversary falls on January 17.
Velivada was raised on January 4, 2016, when Rohith Vemula, Dontha Prashanth, Vijay Pedapudi, Seshu Chemudugunta and Velpula Sunkanna were “socially boycotted” from public spaces on the campus by Vice-Chancellor Appa Rao.
Mr Samson Gidla, president, Ambedkar Students’ Association alleged that Dr Appa Rao had removed the portraits of Dr B.R. Ambedkar, Mahatma Jyotirao Phule, Savitribai Phule and other leading figures whom Dalits across the nation respect.
“The Velivada was also a place where the five Dalit scholars including Vemula had taken shelter under the shade of these personalities,” he told this newspaper. Mr Prashanth one of the five scholars said, Velivada stood testimony to the “atrocities” the V-C allegedly committed and the harassment that the five scholars went through. “It was a place where any guest who visited the campus would come and pay their respects,” he said.
The ASA had given a call for protests and burning of an effigy at the Velivada at 6 pm on Sunday. The administration issued a notice on January 5 asking ASA to remove the Velivada.
