Rahul asks Revanth to get Rohith Vemula law
Building on his previous appeal to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Gandhi has now written to Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy.
Hyderabad: AICC leader Rahul Gandhi has urged Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy to enact the 'Rohith Vemula Act' in Telangana, a proposed legislation aimed at addressing caste-based discrimination in educational institutions. Though the letter was dated April 17, its contents became public on Monday.
In his letter, Rahul Gandhi stated, “The murder of bright young people like Rohith Vemula, Payal Tadvi, and Darshan Solanki is simply not acceptable. It is time to put a firm end to this. I urge the Telangana government to enact the Rohith Vemula Act so that no child of India has to face what Dr B.R. Ambedkar, Rohith Vemula, and millions of others have had to endure.”
Rohith Vemula, a 26-year-old Dalit PhD scholar at the University of Hyderabad, died by suicide on January 17, 2016. His death triggered nationwide protests and became a symbol of the caste-based oppression in educational institutions.
Vemula, in his suicide note, had poignantly written, “My birth is my fatal accident,” highlighting the deep personal and systemic challenges he faced due to his caste identity. His note and the circumstances leading to his death sparked widespread outrage and demands for checking caste discrimination in academic institutions.
Rahul Gandhi drew parallels between Vemula’s experiences and those of Dr B.R. Ambedkar, recalling how even Dr Ambedkar faced severe discrimination in school, being made to sit alone in a corner of the classroom. “It is a shame that even today, millions of students from Dalit, Adivasi, and OBC communities have to face such brutal discrimination in our educational system,” Rahul Gandhi noted in the letter.
The Congress leader has written similar letters to Chief Ministers K. Siddaramaiah and Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, urging them to pass the Rohith Vemula Act in their respective states.
Rahul Gandhi had visited the University of Hyderabad in 2016 following Vemula’s death and had pledged to fight for legislation to protect marginalised students from discrimination. In 2022, Vemula’s mother, Radhika Vemula, joined Rahul’s Bharat Jodo Yatra in Hyderabad, expressing solidarity with his campaign against social injustice.
The proposed Rohith Vemula Act is aimed to create an effective legal framework to prevent caste-based harassment and discrimination within educational institutions and ensure accountability for institutional failures.
Rohith Vemula, a member of the Ambedkar Students’ Association (ASA), was suspended along with four fellow students after a confrontation with members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), a right-wing student group in January 2016. The suspension, coupled with the stoppage of his fellowship, allegedly led to his emotional and financial isolation on campus.
