How was my son an anti-national, extremist, asks Rohith's mother

New Delhi: As controversy over Dalit HCU scholar Rohith Vemula's suicide dominated the Rajya Sabha for a third day, his family and friends alleged that Union Minister Smriti Irani ‘lied’ to the Parliament.

Addressing a press conference to ‘reveal the lies propagated by the Union Minster’ to Parliament, Rohith’s family and friends said, “The Union Minster is lying and diverting the issue. He did not receive a stipend for seven months.” This was completely in contrast with Irani’s statement in Parliament that the Dalit scholar was 'not denied' the scholarship money.

Also read: Controversy over Rohith's caste refuses to die down

Accusing Irani of manipulating facts, Rohith’s friend who was addressing the press conference further added, “The Union Minister is manipulating facts. She lied about the presence of a Dalit member in the probe committee. There was no Dalit representative in executive council that took a decision on Rohith's suspension.”

Rohith’s friend also berated Irani for claiming earlier that he was not a Dalit. “Thawar Chand Gehlot and Smriti Irani claimed that Rohith Vemula is not a dalit. The truth is that Rohith’s mother is SC, and so is his grandmother, who adopted his mother. There is also a caste certificate that states that Rohith was SC,” he said, and added that the inquiry report that was pending on the matter would clarify it once and for all.

 "On the caste status she and Gehlot were referring to reports submitted by the ACP who is not a competent authority to investigate caste of a person," he added.

Speaking to the media, Rohith’s mother said, “Letters forwarded from HRD Ministry indicated that students were branded as anti-national and extremists. I demand an explanation as to how my son became anti-national and extremist.”

The family also cited Dr M Rajshree, the doctor on duty that fateful day when Rohith had allegedly committed suicide on January 17. Rajshree contradicted Irani’s claims that no one was allowed to attend to Vemula’s body until the next morning.

"She said that on the day when Rohith died, no police and doctors were allowed inside to revive him. It was discovered by the university officials at 7 pm that Rohith was dead. This was confirmed by the doctor (CMO) who came out in open yesterday. The doctor stated that Rohith was dead by that time itself," he said.

Rohith Vemula, a Dalit PhD scholar, was found hanging in a hostel room on the Hyderabad Central University campus on January 17, after being suspended. The students were suspended after Union Minister of State for Labour Bandaru Dattatreya wrote a letter to the Union HRD Minister, seeking action against their 'anti-national acts'.

Rohith’s alleged suicide sparked strong reactions on the campus, with many calling the suspension and later the suicide, caste motivated.