Professional Documents
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INSTITUTIONS
We, the concerned students, researchers and teaching faculty, of the National Law School of
India University, Bangalore express deep condolences on the sad demise of Mr. Rohith Vemula,
a PhD scholar in Science, Technology and Society Studies Programme at the University of
Hyderabad (UoH).
Rohith was one among the five Dalit students who were expelled from their hostels and were not
permitted to participate in the students union elections, enter administration building and other
common places in groups on account of an earlier alleged altercation with a member of another
student organization in the University. However, in the process, the present administration
ignored the discrepancies and inconsistencies in the findings and recommendations of the
Proctorial Board. Rohith and his friends were vocal about the instances of caste-discrimination
on campus, and have been fighting against the insensitive attitude of the administration, which
has shown blatant disregard for social justice and human dignity.
This horrifying incident cannot be viewed in isolation. Our educational institutions are becoming
increasingly exclusionary with time. This is also a reflection on the shrinking democratic spaces
within our institutions, with dissenting voices being brutally suppressed and termed as antinational. It is significantly an onslaught on the freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by
the Constitution of India.
The Police registered an FIR on Rohiths suicide, against few individuals, which includes the
current Vice Chancellor, Prof. Appa Rao Podile. FIR was registered under IPC section 306
(Abetment of Suicide) and Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act,
1989. Further, the students seeking end to discrimination against Dalits on campus, including
Rohith, had spoken about the vindictive nature of the administration on previous occasions. We
therefore demand that those who are responsible for Rohiths suicide and social boycott of the
students be made answerable and an impartial investigation must be conducted to look into the
issue.
We stand in solidarity with the agitating academic community of UoH. It is our responsibility to
strongly condemn any such violations of human rights and uphold the spirit of the Constitution.
We condemn any attempt to shrink democratic spaces within educational institutions.
Signatures:
1. Deepankar
2. Osho Chhel
3. Gaganjyot Singh
4. Aditya Mehta
5. Karundeep Singh
6. Shreyas Satadeve
7. I.R. Jayalakshmi
8. Vijay Kishor Tiwari
9. Neenu Suresh
10. Sonali Charak
11. Chirayu jain
12. Simranjit Singh
13. Spadika Jayaraj
14. Kaushik Prasad
15. Rajini Murugeshan
16. Annie Jain
17. Apurva Wankhede
18. Rohan Gupta
19. Arti Kumari
20. Vani Sharma
21. TVS Sasidhar
22. Abhishek Kumar
23. Noaman M
24. Harsha N
25. Mukta Joshi
26. Megha Mehta
27. Ayush Singh
28. Divij Joshi
29. Beena
30. Elizabeth V.S.
31. Mathavi
32. Reeya Singh
33. Nandini Biswas
34. Pankhuri Agrawal
35. Dharma Teja
36. Nikita Garg
37. Pradeep Ramavath J
38. Jyotsna Sripada
39. Paldron Tenzin Tsering
40. Aditya Vardhan Sharma