Rohith's suicide: Will Smriti Irani meet & address the issues of students?

New Delhi, Feb 4: The protesting students of University of Hyderabad (UoH), Hyderabad, are all set to hit the roads of Delhi on February 20.

As a part of their Chalo Delhi campaign, organised by the Joint Action Committee (JAC) for Social Justice, the students are planning to stage a protest outside the office of Union Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani and demand her resignation.

They are also demanding the removal of Minister of Labour and Employment Bandaru Dattatreya from the Union cabinet and sacking of Prof P Appa Rao from the UoH vice-chancellor's post.

The campus of UoH is on the boil since the suicide of Rohith Vemula. The 26-year-old Dalit research scholar was found hanged in the university campus on January 17.

Rohith was one of the five scholars who were expelled, after a scuffle broke out between the Ambedkar Students' Association (ASA) (Rohith was a member of ASA) and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in August last year.

The press release of JAC issued on February 3 (Wednesday) states, "We appeal to the entire nation to join us in the protest in Delhi against the injustice meted out to our friend Rohith."

February 20 is observed as World Day of Social Justice across the globe.

"We are starting our campaign tour on February 8. We will be organising bus yatras to all the universities and colleges in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Besides, we will also meet student members of the All India Joint Action Committee for Social Justice across the country," adds the press release.

On February 6, the JAC is also hosting a meeting at UoH. The meeting is likely to be attended by members belonging to several fact finding committees, student activists, members of progressive and democratic organisations and political parties.

Although the classes have resumed in the campus few days ago, the students continued their relay hunger strike. According to the members of JAC, the relay hunger strike will continue till all their demands are addressed.

OneIndia News