V-C revokes suspension of 4 other dalit students, makes decision conditional
Termination of punishment' comes with three riders, Dean issues press statement.
Hyderabad: The University of Hyderabad on Thursday “terminated the punishment” imposed on dalit students with immediate effect, but made the decision conditional upon the outcome of two court cases and a police investigation.
The decision with three riders angered the students who vowed to continue their fight.
Of the two cases, both in the High Court, one is the writ petition (No. 28073/2015) moved by Ms Vinaya Kumar, mother of ABVP leader Susheel Kumar, seeking action on students who allegedly assaulted her son and the other is the petition (41516/2015) filed by D. Prashanth and other research scholars seeking revocation of their suspension.
The UoH decision is also conditional on the outcome of the police investigation into the assault complaint filed by Mr Susheel Kumar.
The University had on December 18 suspended five students — D. Prashanth, Rohith Vemula (who later committed suicide), P. Vijay Kumar, C. Sheshaiah and V. Sunkanna — from the hostels till the completion of their studies.
The decision was taken at a special meeting of the executive council held under the chairmanship of vice-chancellor Appa Rao Podile and put out in a press statement issued by students’ welfare dean Prof. Prakash Babu.
The executive council said it had taken the decision due to the “extraordinary situation in the campus”. Mr Zuhail, a student union leader, took serious objection to the manner in which the decision was announced.
“Instead of the vice-chancellor issuing orders, it came from the dean which is not acceptable to us. What do they mean by extraordinary situation? Are they belittling our protest?” he asked.
“Had this decision been made before Rohith’s death, we would have agreed. Not now. We want action against culprits responsible for the suicide, including the vice-chancellor, action against Union minister Bandaru Dattatreya, ABVP leader Susheel Kumar, '50 lakh compensation for Rohith’s family and a job for his brother,” Mr Zuhail said.