Academics and activists on Saturday condemned the report of Ashok Kumar Roopanwala Commission on Rohith Vemula’s suicide.
Speaking at a round table discussion here on Saturday, Kaki Madhavrao, a retired IAS officer and a member of the Officers’ Forum, said the report was “politically motivated” as it had declared Rohith Vemula a non-Dalit to prevent arrests under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act.
Rohith Vemula, a student of University of Hyderabad, had killed himself on January 17, 2016.
A case under the atrocity Act was filed against Podile Apparao, the Vice-Chancellor of the university; Bandaru Dattatreya, Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment; Smriti Irani, former Minister for Human Resource Development; Ramachandra Rao, BJP MLC and Nandanam Susheel Kumar, former president of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). Students had lodged a complaint with the Hyderabad city police stating that Rohith Vemula was discriminated against for being a Dalit.
After the incident, the Ministry of Human Resource Development had set up a one-man commission led by Mr. Roopanwala, a retired judge, to inquire into the circumstances that led to his death.
Terms of reference
Mr. Madhavrao said the commission had transgressed its terms of reference by investigating into the caste of Rohith Vemula even when this mandate was not enlisted as the terms of reference. “What the commission did was illegal. And its verdict on the caste of Rohith has no standing. It’s a conspiracy to undermine Rohith by branding him a liar,” Mr. Madhavrao said.
The statement of Vemula Venkateshwarulu, who is the paternal grandfather of Rohith, filed before the Collector/District Magistrate Guntur on June 6, 2016 categorically states that Radhika Vemula is a Scheduled Caste-Mala. The same was given to the commission on June 10, 2016, though this statement never made it to the report which was submitted 40 days later.
“Mr. Roopanwala picked and choose material to suit the needs of the Union Government. The commission and its report has no integrity,” said Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd, an activist and an academic who spoke at the meeting.
Continuing protests
The full version of the Roopanwala report was released in August, creating an uproar among students and activists who still hold protests under the banner of ‘Justice for Rohith Vemula’.