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Hyderabad University: Rohith Vemula memorial may be pulled down

by IBNS 30 Mar 2016, 08:11 pm

Hyderabad, Mar 31 (IBNS) The authorities of the Hyderabad Central University are likely to pull down a makeshift memorial erected by students, who have been pouring their hearts for Rohith Vemula, the Dalit scholar, whose suicide in January has snowballed into a major political issue across the country.

Reports said photographs, busts and messages in a tent and a cement "stupa" outside it represent the 'Rohith Vemula' memorial at the university, which has been going through an unending turmoil for more than last two months.

According to an NDTV report, the memorial is counted as one of the "illegal structures" on campus and it may soon be pulled down, which could seriously hurt the sentiments of agitating students and rake up tension at the university where aggressive protests have led arrest of students  and a mass leave by teachers in the past week.

"The illegal structures must go, but we are not pushing it right now. We will first issue notices and then remove them," Vice Chancellor Appa Rao told NDTV.

 Rao held a meeting on March 24, two days after he was held hostage for hours by a large group of protesting students who blame him for driving Mr Vemula to suicide.

The 26-year-old Dalit student hung himself days after he was banned from the hostel and other common areas on campus over a clash with an activist from a BJP-linked students' union. Before his suicide, he had written to the vice chancellor alleging discrimination.

NDTV has accessed a note from the university meeting that lists 13 points; one of them says all "unauthorised illegal structures" will be removed from the shopping complex on campus that has been the site of protests. There should be no busts or memorial, the note says.

The memorial tent dubbed "Veli Wada" - which means a place of exile outside a village - was the spot where Rohith spent the last few days before his death, protesting his suspension along with other students banned from the campus. Rohith's supporters say "Veli Wada" represents the struggle against caste discrimination that they allege exists beyond villages, even in cities and at universities.