Kanhaiya vows to fight for enactment of ‘Rohith Act’
JNU student leader says will not campaign in assembly elections
hyderabad — Accusing the NDA government of trying to undermine the independence of universities, the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar on Thursday vowed to continue the fight till the Centre enacted a separate law to end caste discrimination in colleges and universities across the country
Hogging the media limelight ever since his arrival on Wednesday on a two-day visit to the city, Kanhaiya received a hero’s welcome by the students of University of Hyderabad (UoH) who have been on an agitation mode, seeking justice for Rohith Vemula, a Dalit research scholar who committed suicide on January 17.
After meeting Rohith’s mother Radhika and addressing the students outside the main gate of the UoH campus amid tense standoff with the university authorities, the JNUSU leader participated in a seminar on “protection of constitutional values” organised at “Sundarayya Vignan Kendra, a venue run by the left parties, on Thursday.
Chaotic scenes broke out at the meeting when an unidentified person among the audience hurled a shoe at Kanhaiya. However, it missed the target. Soon after, a section of the gathering overpowered the assailant and handed him over to the police.
The police took away the man even as commotion prevailed in the hall for a few minutes. The meeting continued after the incident. The student community has been rooting for enactment of “Rohith Act”, on the lines of “Nirbhaya Act”, to tackle caste discrimination in educational institutions.
“We will not rest till the Centre initiates steps for enactment of Rohith Act,” Kanhaiya asserted.
Rohith’s suicide, following his suspension by the university authorities along with four other Dalit students, had triggered a nationwide outrage with the entire opposition blaming the NDA government for growing instances of harassment and discrimination of Dalits. “There is an urgent need for enactment of a separate law to tackle caste discrimination in educational institutions,” said P Vijay Kumar, one of the five Dalit students suspended along with Rohith. The university authorities have since revoked the suspensions following a huge outcry.
“We are in touch with Sukhadeo Thorat, Professor Emeritus, Jawaharlal Nehru University, and Chairman, Indian Council of Social Science Research, and other academicians sympathetic to our cause for preparing a draft bill in this regard,” Vijay Kumar said. As part of the movement, efforts would be made to enlist the support of all political parties to put in place a legislative mechanism for protection of Dalit rights in educational institutions.
Meanwhile, Kanhaiya ruled out his campaigning in the upcoming Assembly elections in West Bengal and Kerala. Earlier reports suggested that he could be roped in by the Left parties for electioneering in these states.
He also refuted the allegation that they were politicising the issues in universities and said,” Are we doing politics or is the government is doing politics? It has a preplanned script to destroy the autonomy of universities. The precise work of universities, intellectuals is to promote critical thinking.”