Rahul urges CMs of Himachal, T’gana to roll out Vemula Act
The letters, dated April 16 and 17, Gandhi called for the swift implementation of the Act as a tribute to students who have lost their lives due to systemic neglect and prejudice.
Leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has written to Telangana and Himachal Pradesh chief ministers, Revanth Reddy and Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, urging them to enact the proposed Rohith Vemula Act in their states to eliminate caste-based discrimination in educational institutions.
The letters, dated April 16 and 17, Gandhi called for the swift implementation of the Act as a tribute to students who have lost their lives due to systemic neglect and prejudice.
Citing the deaths of Rohith Vemula, Payal Tadvi and Darshan Solanki, Gandhi wrote that it was “a shame that even today, millions of students from Dalit, Adivasi and OBC communities have to face such brutal discrimination in our educational system.”
“These are the words of Dr BR Ambedkar. Here he describes an incident during a long bullock cart journey. There was plenty of food with us. There was hunger burning within us; with all this, we were to sleep without food; that was because we could get no water, and we could get no water because we were untouchables.”
Earlier on April 16, the senior Congress leader shared a similar letter addressed to Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah on X, in which he highlighted that Ambedkar, throughout his life, showed that education is the only means by which even the deprived can become empowered and break the caste system.
Responding to Gandhi, the Karnataka CM said he has instructed his legal advisor and team to prepare a draft of the Rohith Vemula act.
His letters follow his recent meetings with students and teachers from Dalit, Adivasi and OBC communities in Parliament, where he was reportedly told that caste discrimination is rampant in colleges and universities.
Vemula, a PhD scholar in University of Hyderabad, died by suicide due to caste-based discrimination in 2016.
