Rohith Vemula Act will be introduced in Telangana, says Deputy CM Vikramarka

Hyderabad, Jan 17 (PTI) Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka on Saturday said that the Rohit Vemula Act will be introduced in the state at the earliest.

Earlier in the day, a group of students of University of Hyderabad (UoH) boycotted classes and took out a march on the varsity campus to mark the 10th death anniversary of research scholar Rohith Vemula.

Vemula hanged himself in a hostel room on the UoH campus on January 17, 2016.

His suicide rocked the nation with protests.

Vikramarka, who met members of the Justice for Rohith Vemula Campaign Committee at Praja Bhavan here, recalled that Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi had also written a letter to Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, urging the introduction of the Rohith Vemula Act in the state, an official release said.

Rahul Gandhi in a post in Hindi on 'X' on Saturday, said the Congress governments in Karnataka and Telangana are in the process of implementing the law as soon as possible.

"Dalit youth -- raise your voices, organise yourselves, stand with each other. Demand: Implement the Rohit Vemula Act now. We need an anti-discrimination law now," he stressed.

To coincide with a decade of the Justice for Rohith Vemula movement, a people’s campaign led by Ambedkarites and anti-caste intellectuals in Karnataka have prepared a draft of the Rohith Vemula Act.

The Deputy CM informed the committee that the Congress government would work towards bringing the Rohith Vemula Act after discussions with the chief minister.

Members of the campaign committee submitted to Vikramarka a draft of the Act prepared by the committee in Karnataka. They also demanded a transparent inquiry into the Vemula case and justice for him.

They also requested that relief be granted to 50 students and two teachers against whom non-bailable cases were registered in the university following Vemula’s death. The committee further urged that the Act be introduced in Telangana on the lines of Karnataka.

"Students voluntarily boycotted classes and gathered at 'Velivaada' (North Shopcom) on the varsity campus supporting the Justice for Rohith Vemula movement commemorating 10 years of institutional murder of Vemula and ten years of justice denied," UoH Ambedkar Students Association (ASA) vice-president Dushyant said.

Radhika Vemula, mother of Rohith, Congress MLA Jignesh Mevani from Gujarat, students among others garlanded the Rohith Stupa at Velivaada, he said.

'Mashal Juloos' (torch procession) was also taken out on the campus by scores of students demanding justice for Vemula, he added. PTI VVK GDK VVK KH