Why is it so important to declare Rohit Vemula a non-Dalit?

The contempt with which Dalits are treated in life, does not change once they die, especially a luminous person like Rohith Vemula, who will never accept the status quo, who can unite the eternally discriminated and give them that precious thing called “hope” when he was living and also in his death.

Lies are the only recourse left to his enemies,when he was living and also after his death. The mountain of lies can confuse some but can it bury the truth?

Now the governments of Andhra Pradesh( under Chandrababu Naidu) and the Telangana government (under K.Chandrashekar Rao) agree on one important issue-that Rohit Vemula is not a Dalit.

“A simple game to protect the accused,”says lawyer

“Once Rohith is certified a non-Dalit, those in the dock for allegedly abetting his suicide will not be tried under the more stringent SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. It is a simple game to protect the accused,” said Jai Bhimrao, the advocate fighting the case.

According to official records, the new inquiry headed by the joint collector of Guntur district interrogated seven people, five of them said Rohith was a Dalit from the Mala caste. The five were, Rohith’s mother Radhika, his brother Raja, his sister,Neelima, his paternal grandfather Venkateswarlu and adopted late grandmother, Anjani devi. Only two said he was a Vaddera or OBC. They were Rohit’s absentee father, Mani Kumar and his paternal grandmother, Raghavamma. The commission went with the minority view.

Rohith was raised by his mother Radhika, who belongs to the SC Mala caste. His father,an alcoholic, a Vaddera deserted her and she single-handedly brought up her children against great odds. On the first anniversary of his death, his mother was violently prevented from entering the Central university gates while his father was seen at his memorial(built by his colleagues).

The lies surrounding these government investigations can only bring out one burning truth- Rohith Vemula was a Dalit, who will not be given easy justice in life or in death. Justice to Rohith can be done only by fighting against a caste-ridden society.

-UDAAN