#AamAadmiParty stages nation-wide protests against driving #Dalit student #RohithVemula to suicide

Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party’s National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal visited Hyderabad on Thursday. Kejriwal visited the University of Hyderabad Campus and met the students protesting against driving Dalit student Rohith Vemula to suicide. He also met Rohith’s mother and his brother at the University Campus. After paying tribute to the departed soul, Kejriwal wrote in the condolence book, “It is not a suicide but a murder. We all have to fight together to get justice for Rohith and his ideas.” addressing the students in the university campus, Kejriwal expressed shock that even after Rohith’s death, the university administration did not revoke Dalit students’ suspension. He said,”If the administration does not revoke the suspension, I would sit on an indefinite dharna.” The university administration finally bowed down and accepted his demand to revoke the suspension.

The Aam Aadmi Party staged country-wide protests against the shocking incident. Aam Aadmi Party volunteers in Uttar Pradesh carried out massive protests in Kanpur, Azamgarh, Lucknow, Balrampur, Mirzapur, Jaunpur, Faizabad, Auraiya, Bareily, Deoria, Allahabad, Farukhabad, Amroha,Moradabad, Baharaich, Gonda, Balrampur, Lalitpur, Fatehpur, Saharanpur, Amethi, Hamirpur, Azamgarh, Kanpur, Gurakhpur and Sultanpur districts. AAP volunteers took out processions shouting slogans about anti-dalit mindset of Narendra Modi Government and atrocities against dalits across the country after Narendra Modi took over as Prime Minister of the country.

Convenor of Purvanchal zone Sanjeev Singh said,”involvement of Modi’s two ministers in driving Rohith to suicide is the most gruesome incident of dalit atrocities in the country in the recent past. Letters written by Modi’s minister Bandaru Dattatreya clearly show how Modi Government itself was at work in hounding the innocent dalit students, forcing the university administration to suspend innocent students and finally driving one of them to suicide.”

Similar protests were organized in Uttarakhand. Aam volunteers in Delhradun, Haridwar, Roorkee, Udham Singh Nagar, Kashipur, Rudrapur and Haldwani took out processions and staged dharnas. AAP leader Anoop Nautiyal said,”Aam Aadmi Party in Uttarakhand will knock every door and expose BJP Government. Dalit’s have been suffering under the government and they will teach BJP a lesson.”

Madhya Pradesh unit also carried out massive protests in Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior, jabalpur, Bhind, Chhatarpur, Rajpur and Ali Rajpur districts. Haryana, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamilnadu, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Punjab also saw massive protests on the issue. Punjab Convenor Suchcha Singh Chhotepur said,”The incident of Hyderabad is not an isolated one. Similar atrocities against dalits have ben reported from states like Haryana. Just that this time Modi Goverment has completely exposed itself. Dalit community in Punjab is shocked at the incident. Massive turnout in our protests across the state is a clear indication that people of Punjab are going to teach the BJP a lesson this time.”

Addressing a press conference in Delhi, Party spokesperson Sanjay Singh said,”HRD Minister Smriti Irani has been lying consistently on the issue. She lied that suspension of dalit students was ordered by a panel headed by the senior most dalit professor. In fact the panel was headed by one Professor Vipil Srivastava. Smriti Irani and Modi Government are spreading lies and insulting daltis. The government must sack Bandaru Dattatreya and send him to jail.”