University of Hyderabad students burn probe panel report on Rohith Vemula's suicide, call it 'mischievous'

Hyderabad: A group of students from the University of Hyderabad (UoH) on Thursday burnt copies of a probe panel’s report which had said that the varsity’s action was not responsible for Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula’s suicide. Vemula’s death last year had touched off massive protests. [caption id=“attachment_2602424” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Rohith Vemula. Image courtesy: Facebook[/caption] Report of the one-man judicial commission under former Allahabad high court judge Justice AK Roopanwal, set up by the human resource development ministry, had said, “Vemula was a troubled individual and was unhappy for several reasons.” It also said that Vemula was not a Dalit. A group of students on Thursday evening held a protest in Hyderabad and accused the Commission of having submitted an “illegal, mischievous and politically motivated report”. The Commission went beyond its terms of reference by investigating Vemula’s caste, the protesters said. Dontha Prashanth of Ambedkar Students’ Association said, “The report has suited the purpose of ABVP and BJP, going against the evidence available before the commission.” Professor K Laxminarayana, who also addressed the protesters, said the Commission was primarily set up to investigate the circumstances that led to Vemula’s death, but it didn’t carry out this task. Vemula hanged himself in his hostel room on 17 January, 2016. Before that, the varsity had taken disciplinary action against him.