COMMITTEE SEEKS PODILE’S PROSECUTION

The Struggle and Solidarity Committee for Justice for Rohith Vemula sought prosecution of UoH Vice-Chancellor Prof. Appa Rao Podile under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act for allegedly demolition portraits of Dr B.R. Ambedkar and other leaders and removal of the ‘Veliwada’ in the university campus.

On Saturday, a fact-finding committee comprising leaders of organisations like Kula Nirmoolana Porata Samiti, Organisation for Protection of Democratic Rights, Bahujan Resistance Forum and Civil Liberties Committee visited the campus following allegations of destruction of the portraits of Dr Ambedkar and cases being filed against Dalit research scholars.

Prof. Lakshman Gaddam, president of the Civil Liberties Committee, said the team found no evidence to back the university’s allegation that the students had destroyed public property by digging for the construction of the Velivada.

On Sunday, some artists from the Nigar Kalai Koodam, a parai performance team from Coimbatore came to perform in front of Rohith Vemula’s bust.

Team member Raghu said, “We want to liberate people through this art”. He said the troupe had choose parai, one of the oldest form of drum, because it was an instrument of the oppressed