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Rohith Vemula’s suicide has sent our politics into convulsion and has once again brought to fore the deep social fault-lines that criss-cross our society. Often masked, these divisions have always existed deep under. Through constitutionally mandated means – aided by political participation – the Indian Republic has sought to paper over the rumbling of these tectonic plates. Whether it has succeeded or failed depends on how you look at it.  The government’s response has been to brush aside the casteist underpinnings of this issue. HRD minister, Smriti Irani, was at pains to deflect attention by suggesting that it was not a Dalits versus non-Dalits issue. A report in the Indian Express today highlights, how her deputies in the ministry – one of whom is a Dalit– have gone silent on the matter. This has only highlighted how important conversations around Dalit issues are ignored in attempts to tide over a crisis.  Read Articles

Escalating its attack on the Centre over the issue of a dalit scholar’s alleged suicide in Hyderabad University,Congress today demanded immediate sacking of HRD Minister Smriti Irani and Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya.  “…Irani is lying through her teeth in a bid to protect the ABVP leader. She is misleading the nation by giving false information,” Congress chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala said, seeking to dismiss the claims of Irani on the issue.  Irani had yesterday said that the ABVP leader, who was attacked in student rivalry earlier, also belonged to the OBC community as was Dattatreya, who had written a letter to her about the attack. Read Articles

Fresh protests today rocked the Hyderabad Central University over the alleged suicide of Dalit student, Rohith Vemula, even as several politicians headed to the city including YSR Congress leader Y S Jaganmohan Reddy and CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury. A group of students carrying placards and raising slogans protested in the tense University campus this morning. Besides Hyderabad many cities across the country including in Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and Chennai were rocked by protests yesterday. ALSO READ: Protests continue at University of Hyderabad over Dalit scholar’s suicide Reddy and Yechury are scheduled to meet the protesting students of the University today.   Read Articles

Going on the offensive on the dalit student’s suicide case in Hyderabad, Congress today demanded that HRD Minister Smriti Irani should be removed along with Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya, against whom an FIR has been lodged. Party spokesperson Kumari Selja told reporters here that both Irani and Dattatreya should resign or else Prime Minister Narendra Modi should take action against the two by sacking them. She said that the HRD Minister has “misguided” the whole country as she had written a number of letters on the issue and that Dattatreya was “against dalit students in order to promote ABVP”. ALSO READ:  Rohith Vemula suicide: Digvijay Singh asks student wings to unite against communal forces Rohith Vemula Didn’t Get Fellowship For Past 7 Months, Says Letter Dalit Student Rohith Vemula’s Suicide ‘Murder Of Democracy’: Kejriwal Rohith Vemula Suicide: Rahul Gandhi To Visit Hyderabad University Dalit Student Suicide: FTII Students Sit On Hunger Strike D...