Congress to meet President tomorrow on HCU issue

Hyderabad, Mar 28: Senior Congress leader Sushilkumar Shinde today said his party will meet President Pranab Mukherjee tomorrow on the state of affairs at the Hyderabad Central University (HCU).

The former Home minister said his party will continue to fight for family of Rotith Vemula, a Dalit research scholar at HCU who committed suicide on January 17, till they get justice.

Speaking on violence of March 22 on varsity campus and subsequent arrest of 25 students and two faculty members, Shinde told reporters here, "After having seen such a big incident, we will meet the President tomorrow along with other party MPs."

Shinde, who earlier in the day met the jailed students, questioned the reason behind Appa Rao taking back charge as the VC even when the case is still pending against him.

"Who authorised the VC to come back and take charge? He should have resigned. Why was he not arrested as the case is still pending against him? It is government's responsibility to remove him from the university and entrust him with some other job," he said.

Shinde said some students complaint that they were forced by the police to sign on some papers. Earlier, Vemula's mother Radhika met Shinde and sought his intervention to put pressure on the government to get the arrested students released from jail and also bring out Rohith Act.

She held Appa Rao responsible for the ongoing turmoil in the HCU and blamed police for not arresting the VC despite a case registered against him. "If they want they can arrest me. It was I who accused the VC of murdering my son. The students are just supporting me. They are innocent. The VC should have behaved like father of the university. But he acted senselessly," she said.

Telangana PCC Chief Uttam Kumar Reddy, MP Rajeev Satav, NSUI national president Roji M John accompanied Shinde. Cyberabad police last week arrested 25 students and two faculty members for allegedly vandalising the VC's lodge on HCU campus and pelting stones at police.

PTI