Smriti Irani should be arrested, not transferred, says Vemula’s mother

HYDERABAD/GUNTUR: The family of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula and his comrades at the Hyderabad Central University believe Smriti Irani’s transfer from the

HYDERABAD/GUNTUR: The family of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula and his comrades at the Hyderabad Central University believe Smriti Irani’s transfer from the HRD ministry is a “political gimmick” by the BJP ahead of the UP polls due next year.

HT Image

“Smriti Irani is one of the main people responsible for the death of my son. She needs to be arrested and not transferred to another ministry,” said Radhika Vemula, mother of Rohith Vemula who committed suicide at the Hyderabad university in January this year allegedly owing to harassment by the university’s vice-chancellor Appa Rao and senior BJP leaders, including Irani.

The minister has been named as an accused in the complaint under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act.

Speaking to HT on Thursday, Radhika said, “I am afraid to live alone with my younger son…We are under constant surveillance. What difference does Smriti Irani’s transfer make to our lives or the Justice for Rohith campaign?”

Radhika’s younger son Raja Vemula said, “We don’t expect the new HRD minister to be any better … It doesn’t benefit the pursuit of justice for my brother in any way.”

He added the decision of the Guntur collector to set aside the findings of his own investigation into the Rohith case and order a fresh investigation had traumatised his mother. Unless Rohit is proved a Dalit, the police will not move on the complaint filed under the Atrocities Act, he added.