Hansal Mehta’s tribute to Rohith Vemula will definitely make you cry

Bengaluru, Mar 22: It has been more than two months since Rohith Vemula committed suicide on the campus of Hyderabad Central University (HCU), Hyderabad.

The tragic death of the 26-year-old Dalit research scholar brought students, activists, filmmakers, academicians and artists under one roof, when they protested vehemently against caste-based discrimination rampant in our educational institutions.

The protesters are still demanding justice for Rohith Vemula.

However, it was the suicide note which Rohith wrote before his death that left almost everyone teary eyed.

It was a hard-hitting appeal to all of us at a time when we have almost forgotten the basic principles of humanity.

The letter also reflected the loneliness and struggles of a poor Dalit student (Rohith), who always loved everyone and wanted to be a science fiction writer.

The death of a brilliant man like Rohith is a loss to the nation.

It is his heart wrenching suicide note that has inspired critically-acclaimed filmmaker Hansal Mehta to come up with a 10-minute-long video tribute to Rohith.

"We are currently in a time where showcasing myself as a filmmaker is irrelevant. The freedom and rights guaranteed by our constitution are being taken away from us by polarising forces. Rohith's letter expresses the anguish of a nation at the threshold of a revolt against these forces," said Mehta.

"Our freedom, rights, equality and aspirations are being trampled upon. We are being silenced into meek submission by an apathetic establishment. Our students are the only hope for resistance in these troubled times. My intention is to simply play Rohith's letters as monologues and to provoke us to think about the perils of further polarisation. Thank you Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Rajkummar Rao, Swanand Kirkire, Ornub Gayan, Apurva M Asrani, Harshit Sharma, Alok Tripathi, Vipul Arora and all the wonderful friends who worked to make this small tribute possible," he added.

The letter, originally written in English, has been translated into Hindi by lyricist Swanand Kirkire. Actor Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub can be seen sitting in a chair in a room and reading out the letter of Rohith in the video.

Watch the video here

OneIndia News