Those behind Rohith Vemula's suicide elevated by BJP: Telangana Dy CM

Hyderabad: Telangana deputy chief minister Bhatti Vikramarka said that the elevation of former Bharatiya Janata Party (MLC) N Ramchander Rao as the party’s state president, and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) leader Susheel Kumar as an assistant professor in the Hyderabad Central University (HCU), proved that the fears that those driving Dalit students to suicide on campuses will be elevated and will be given plum positions, whether in the saffron party, or the university campuses.

Addressing the media at the All-India Congress Committee’s (AICC) headquarters in New Delhi on Friday, July 11, he alleged that these two persons, along with others, were directly responsible for driving Rohith Vemula to suicide in 2016, after the ABVP members in HCU allegedly hounded him and ensured that he was rusticated from the university along with his friends.

I have come here to address the case that shook this country in 2017 when Rohith Vemula committed suicide at the University of Hyderabad. This made the entire country reflect on what is happening under the BJP rule.

He was a PhD scholar and was an active member of the Ambedkar… pic.twitter.com/KgiG8vEuBl

— Congress (@INCIndia) July 11, 2025

Citing the suicide note of Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula, Bhatti said that the former had suggested the university administration to give some poison along with a rope to die by suicide to Dalits who would secure admissions at the prestigious university.

“A student facing the most severe mental pressure and believing that there is no way out but to commit suicide are the conditions prevailing in campuses in this country. His writings moved the entire nation. The entire country observed the reasons behind his suicide,” Bhatti said.

Elaborating on the events that led to Rohith Vemula’s death, Bhatti said that when the members of the organisation which the former was representing were representing the issues affecting their self-respect and human rights to the HCU administration, Nandanam Susheel Kumar, who was the then ABVP HCU president obstructed them, and portrayed them as anti-nationals.

“Susheel Kumar not only complained to the university authorities, but also informed the BJP leaders and took steps to file cases against Rohith and his friends. From the highest authority in the then Union human resources development ministry to the level of the then BJP MLC Ramchander Rao, to rusticate them. With no other option, he died by suicide and we all know it,” Bhatti reminded.

Bhatti said that it was unfortunate that instead of taking action against such persons who created problems for the Dalit scholars, BJP was giving prominent positions to such people, as evident in the appointment of Ramchander Rao as the party’s state president, and appointing Susheel Kumar as an assistant professor in the very university, where Rohith sacrificed his life.

“Those who will target Dalits and Adivasis and will drive them to the edge, they are giving them promotions. This reaffirms the fear in the minds of Dalits and Adivasis across the country,” Bhatti observed.

He demanded the BJP to apologise for Rohith’s death.

The suicide that had sparked nationwide outrage

As Rohith’s suicide note reveals, he was a brilliant student and a deep thinker who had come to the conclusion that his birth itself was a fatal accident.

After being rusticated from their hostels, Rohith and his friends squatted at the university’s ‘Shopcom,’ and kept their protests going, naming the protest site as ‘Veliwada,’ which is the area where Dalits in Telangana and AP lived after being boycotted from the village by the so-called upper castes.

As pressure mounted from the top-most in the then BJP government at the Centre, allegedly by Smriti Irani who held the HRD portfolio, former union minister Bandaru Dattatreya, former MLC N Ramchander Rao, the then vice-chancellor Podile Appa Rao and others behind the closed walls, as a protest to the injustice meted-out towards him, Rohith hanged himself to the ceiling fan inside his hostel room.

Protests were held across the country and across the premier universities across the world against what people called it ‘an institutional murder. Protests were held at Veliwada for over an year. The very anti-human who were responsible for his death also ensured that the statue of Rohith Vemula installed at the Veliwada was desecrated. Despite all the attempts and provocations, the protests continued.

The defense counsel representing the university comprising advocates who were actively associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), argued that Rohith wasn’t a Dalit to begin with.

Their argument was that Rohith’s father belonged to the Vaddera community (rock-cutters).

However, Rohith was living with his mother after his father deserted her in his childhood. Surviving poverty and raised by a single mother, Rohith worked hard by studying, while delivering newspapers as his part-time job.

His admission into PhD program in Science, Technology and Society Studies at HCU was also no ordinary feat. He got admitted in HCU due to his excellent academic credentials and intellect. He was a recipient of the UGC-JRF fellowship.

He initially joined the ABVP, but got disassociated with it soon for obvious reasons. He was briefly with the Students Federation of India (SFI), and then joined the Ambedkar Students Association (ASA), where his problem with ABVP began.

The ABVP, BJP and the entire might of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) accused Rohith of being an anti-national for taking out a ‘Namazi Janaza’ along with fellow HCU students in support of Yakub Mamon, convict in the 1993 Mumbai Blast case, when he was hanged to death.

On March 21, 2024, the Telangana police had submitted a closure report to the court citing ‘lack of evidence.’

“The action taken (against Vemula and his friends) by the university authorities cannot be attributed to Bandaru Dattatreya and Ramchander Rao. None of the proctorial board members or the executive council stated that they were aware of any such communication to the vice-chancellor and they acted independently,” the closure report had stated, about the letter written by Dattatreya to Smriti Irani about the disturbances in the campus.

The report had also stated that Rohith may have taken the extreme measure due to multiple reasons, and pointed out that he may have feared losing his academic degree, as he had obtained SC certificate fraudulently to pursue his education.

In May 2024, chief minister A Revanth Reddy reportedly said that a detailed inquiry on Rohith Veluma’s death will be conducted by the Crime Branch- Crime Investigation Department (CB-CID), and that the culprits will be punished.

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Telangana Police to further investigate Rohith Vemula case: DGP

The Telangana Director General of Police (DGP) had assured Rohith’s family members that the police would file a petition in the High Court seeking re-investigation of the case.

Meanwhile, Susheel Kumar, who was posted at a north-eastern university all these years, has been reappointed as an assistant professor at HCU, apparently, as the dust has settled down.

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