New Delhi: JNU student Muthukrishnan (27), who allegedly committed suicide due to depression on Monday evening, actively participated in protests demanding justice for Rohith Vemula.
Earlier in the day, the university in a meeting of teachers and staff members expressed its condolence on the student’s demise. “On his death, the university has lost a sincere and bright student,” a Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) statement said.
The JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU) has demanded a proper and transparent inquiry to ascertain the circumstances and reasons behind his death.
Before coming to JNU, the Dalit researcher was a student of Hyderabad Central University (HCU). Vemula, who was a Dalit researcher like Muthkukrishnan, killed himself on HCU campus last year in January. His death had sparked a string of protests in university campuses of Hyderabad and Delhi.
Muthukrishnan was vocal about the “systematic alienation” of students from marginalised sections in higher education, JNUSU said.
The students’ union alleged that no high-ranking university official, including JNU vice-chancellor M. Jagadesh Kumar, neither visited the spot his death nor the hospital he was taken to. “The top officials of the administration have not cared to meet the family of Muthukrishnan until now. Only an associate dean reached the hospital late on Tuesday,” the union said.
“JNUSU demands that a proper and transparent enquiry be undertaken to ascertain the circumstances and reasons behind the death of Muthu. We also reiterate our commitment to the struggle for equality that Muthu was so much a part of. He was a part of ‘justice for Rohith’ movement and was concerned about the way the implementation of Prof. Thorat committee report stood thwarted. The demand of a Rohith Act is still unanswered,” the statement added.
