Student groups at IIT Delhi, JNU to mark a year of Rohith Vemula’s death

JNUSU will organise a protest march from Mandi House to HRD ministry while IIT Delhi’s Ambedkar Study Circle will hold a commemoration meeting

A year after PhD student Rohith Vemula killed himself at University of Hyderabad after caste based discrimination, students in Delhi will come together to remember him.

Students demand justice for Rohith Vemula who had committed suicide after alleged discrimination on the basis of caste. (HT FILE)

Vemula’s death had sparked protests in the university and across the country over caste discrimination. It had led to heated discussions in Parliament and committees were formed to probe the events leading to his death even as contradictory reports emerged over whether he was an OBC like his father or an SC like his mother. The one-man committee formed by HRD ministry said that he was not a Dalit.

To mark a year of Vemula’s death on January 17, the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) will be organising a protest march from Mandi House to the HRD ministry. “We will march to demand enactment of Rohith Vemula Act against caste based discrimination in campuses. And also to seek punishment for those responsible for his death,” said Mohit Pandey, president JNUSU.

At IIT-D, a group of students and professors have come together to form “Ambedkar Study Circle” which will hold a remembrance meeting. “We will organise a meeting of remembrance and commemoration for Rohith Vemula Shahadat Diwas,” a member said.

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