As justice eludes Rohith Vemula, family, friends, Dalit groups to mark his 1st death anniversary

On his first death anniversary, family and friends of Rohith Vemula will once again raise the demand to punish the people responsible for his suicide.

Hyderabad, Jan 16: On Tuesday, family, friends and Dalit organisations from across the country will come together to commemorate the first death anniversary of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula in Hyderabad.

Rohith committed suicide inside the campus of the University of Hyderabad -- his alma mater -- on January 17 last year.

The members of the Joint Action Committee (JAC), seeking justice for Rohith at UOH, are going to mark the day as Rohith Shahadath Din (Rohith's Martyrdom Day) inside the campus of the institute.

Speaking to reporters, mother of Rohith, Radhika, appealed to students, rights activists and sympathisers to extend their solidarity by visiting the university campus to mark his death anniversary.

"The University administration has denied me the permission to enter the university. Help me pay tributes at Rohith's memorial in the university campus by joining me at the entrance gate," Radhika told reporters on Sunday.

The family and friends of Rohith allege that the 26-year-old committed suicide because of the harassment he faced at the hands of the university's vice chancellor Appa Rao and senior BJP leaders, including former Human Resource Development minister Smriti Irani.

A huge pan-India movement, demanding justice for Rohith, broke out across the country, within days after he committed suicide.

"It has been a year now, but justice still eludes Rohith. We are not going to stop our struggle till the people responsible for his death are punished," Rohith's friend Syed Riyaz said.

On his death anniversary, friends and family of Rohith will participate in Chalo HCU programme and will stage a protest to demand the Central government to bring a Rohith Vemula Act to stop discrimination against Dalit students in the universities.

OneIndia News