Parties express concern over death of JNU student from TN

Chennai, Mar 14: Tamil Nadu's various political parties, including the AIADMK and the DMK, on Tuesday expressed concern over the death of a JNU student hailing from the state and sought a probe into the matter.

AIADMK deputy general secretary T T V Dinakaran said Muthu Krishnan's death at Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University and his references to "inequality" has sent "shock waves" across the state Referring to Krishnan's links to a movement in support of "justice" for deceased Dalit research scholar Rohit Vemula in Hyderabad last year, Dinakaran said, "There are strong doubts if he really committed suicide, considering he was strong." "Therefore, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal should take special interest and order for a proper probe and bring the facts to light.

The culprits should not be spared at any cost," he said in a statement. If the death was a suicide, there should be counselling classes for students in educational institutions to prevent the recurrence of such incidents, he said, expressing sympathies with Krishnan's family.

DMK working president and Leader of Opposition M K Stalin also expressed concern over Krishnan's death. He questioned the suicide angle behind the student's death and cited the statement of the victim's father that his son could not have taken the extreme step. "The Delhi police cannot brush aside the fact that Krishnan was one of those who had sought justice for Vemula, and his Facebook post on inequality also cannot be ignored," he said. "The Centre should order a fair probe into the matter," he said, while demanding that it be handed over to the CBI.

Stalin also urged Chief Minister K Palaniswami to take up the matter with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Krishnan, hailing from Salem, was found hanging in his University's hostel room. JNU Students Union (JNUSU) has alleged he was targeted for his association with the movement seeking justice for Vemula and the resultant depression made him take the extreme step. While Krishnan has not left any suicide note, a recent Facebook post by him criticising "discriminatory" admission policies in JNU is being widely circulated on social media.

"There is no equality in M Phil/PhD admissions, there is no equality in viva-voce, there is only denial of equality, denying Prof Sukhadeo Thorat recommendation, denying students protest places in Ad - block, denying the education of the Marginal's. "When equality is denied everything is denied," he wrote in his March 10 Facebook post.

The police, on the other hand, has been maintaining that no prima facie evidence has been found indicating the JNU administration's role into the issue. The CPI, the CPI(M) and the BJP also expressed concern over the student's death and sought a probe into it.

PTI