Pune:

Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday demanded that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi apologise for “politicising” the suicide of Rohith Vemula, the University of Hyderabad student who died in 2016, as police in a state ruled by his own party have now said that “it was not a Dalit issue”.

The Telangana Police has filed a closure report before a court following a probe into Vemula’s death, claiming that he was not a Dalit and died by suicide as he feared that his real identity would be discovered.

Speaking with a group of select journalists in Pune, Ms Sitharaman pointed out that the police report has been filed in a Congress-ruled state.

“The closure report says he had a wrong certificate of SC (Scheduled Caste), and he was not an SC. But, the family of Vemula was dragged and exhibited in the country when it was grieving. The Congress, by dragging the family of Vemula in public, tried to politicise the issue. Look at the statements made by Rahul Gandhi then in Parliament that Vemula was pressurised,” the Union minister said.

Mr Gandhi should listen to the speeches he had made in the Lok Sabha at the time and apologise to the country, the BJP leader said.

“He should also apologise to the SC community for misusing (them). It was not a Dalit issue but (Gandhi) made it look like a Dalit issue. Now he is running ‘Mohabbat ki Dukan’, but back then he was running ‘toxic dukan’, and for that he should apologise,” she added.

Later, speaking on ‘The role of higher education in realising the vision of ‘viksit Bharat’ at Deccan College in the city and interacting with the students after the talk, Ms Sitharaman said the University of Hyderabad was not allowed to handle the issue with sensitivity.

A narrative was built that the government is suppressive, against students and against SCs, she claimed, adding, “Today the same people, who dragged that unfortunate family to the street, should stand up before the entire country and apologise for having politicised the incident.”

The wrong narrative came from “vested interest groups, self-appointed left-liberal group, self-appointed leader in the opposition, who says ‘mohabbat ki dukaan’,” she said.

“He actually perpetrated this problem, spoke so badly in Parliament about his interpretation (of the incident),” Ms Sitharaman alleged.

She said that rigorous research will have to be done with methodology, with data and without getting confused with the political narrative.

“The problem which could have been addressed amicably within the university, without dishonouring any particular student or family, was dragged to the streets of the country and allegations were levied against then education minister and central government as it was a central university,” she said.

The intolerance, political interference and hate lay not with the government but the vested interest groups which “do not lose an opportunity to bring this toxin into centres of higher education,” Ms Sitharaman claimed.

“We all respect the Dalit cause. The reservation given by the Constitution is affirmative support,” she added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Hyderabad:

The family of University of Hyderabad student Rohith Vemula on Friday said it will legally contest the Telangana Police’s closure report in his 2016 suicide case.

His brother Raja Vemula claimed the district collector has to decide on the family’s SC status, prompting the police to say that they will conduct a further investigation.

In its closure report on Rohith Vemula’s death, the Telangana Police claimed he was not a Dalit and died by suicide in 2016 as he feared that his “real caste” would be discovered.

Citing the doubts expressed by Rohith Vemula’s family, Telangana Director General of Police Ravi Gupta said in a statement late on Friday that a petition will be filed in the court concerned, requesting the magistrate to permit further investigations.

Raja Vemula told news channels that Telangana High Court gave an option to file a ‘protest petition’ in the lower court.

Whether Rohith Vemula belonged to the Scheduled Caste (SC) community or not should come from the district collector of Guntur in Andhra Pradesh, he said and asked how the police can say he was not an SC.

Raja Vemula also said that they plan to meet Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on the matter.

Meanwhile, police chief Mr Gupta said the investigation officer in the case was the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Madhapur, and that the final closure report was prepared before November, based on the investigation conducted.

The final closure report was officially filed in the jurisdictional court on March 21 by the investigation officer, he said in the statement.

In its closure report, the police also gave a clean chit to the accused, citing a lack of evidence.

The university’s then vice-chancellor Appa Rao Podile, former BJP MP Bandaru Dattatreya, BJP ex-MLC N Ramachander Rao, and some ABVP leaders were among the accused.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Eight years after massive protests and a political controversy erupted over his death by suicide, forcing the Modi government to clarify that it was not anti-Dalit, the Telangana Police has filed a closure report in the Rohith Vemula case. In the report, the police have not only said that the University of Hyderabad student was not from the Scheduled Castes and his certificate was forged but also that he died by suicide because he feared being exposed.

The accused in the case included then University of Hyderabad vice-chancellor Appa Rao and BJP leaders like then Secunderabad MP and Union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya, MLC N Ramchender Rao, and Union Minister Smriti Irani, who held the education portfolio at the time, in the case. All of them have been absolved of all charges.

The closure report was filed on March 21 but has come to light just 10 days before all 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana will vote in the fourth phase on May 13. Telangana has a Congress government now and was ruled by the Bharat Rashtra Samithi before that. The Congress had supported the protests seeking justice after the research scholar’s death and senior party leader Rahul Gandhi had also raised the issue in Parliament. 

Rohith Vemula’s family, which had alleged that he died by suicide because he was harassed on the basis of his caste identity by members of the BJP-linked Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and others, has accused the police of investigating the student’s caste status instead of the treatment allegedly meted out to him. 

“Instead of investigating how my brother was targeted, harassed, and finally killed, police investigated his caste status,” said Vemula’s brother. Protests have also broken out at the university.

What The Report Says

Vemula had died by suicide on January 17, 2016 after he was rusticated by the University of Hyderabad and, in its complaint, the Ambedkar Students’ Association – of which Vemula was a member – had alleged that Mr Dattatreya had influenced Ms Irani to take action against Dalit students at the University. 

In the closure report, the Telangana Police said, “The deceased himself was aware that he did not belong to Scheduled Caste and that his mother had got him an SC certificate. This could be one of the constant fears as the exposure of the same would result in a loss of his academic degrees that he earned over the years and be compelled to face prosecution,” the report said.

“The deceased had multiple issues worrying him which could have driven him to commit suicide. Despite best efforts, no evidence could be found to establish that the actions of the accused have driven the deceased to commit suicide,” it said.

NDTV spoke to Mr Rao, who said that he and the BJP had been saying from the beginning that the charges were politically motivated. The closure report reaffirms this, he said.