‘Last year, on the 118th death anniversary of Savitribai Phule, my son Rohith came home to Guntur and said, “Savitribai Phule fought and struggled for dalit women. Rohith also said that the students of Hyderabad Central University (HCU) had celebrated Savitribai Jayanthi as Dalit Women’s Day on March 10, on the university campus. Rohith is not with me, not with us anymore. I want to organise a meeting on that day, March 10, 2016 on the HCU Campus.
‘Because in this country, no dalit woman is treated as per law; as an equal before the law.
‘Additionally, Mrs. Smriti Z. Irani, the Hon’ble Minister of HRD, has treated me as though I am worth nothing; she has harassed amd tortured me in the name of my caste. Because of this targeting, I have lost both my son Rohith and my adoptive mother.
‘To this date, this Government is trying very hard to prove that I am not a Dalit, that I do not belong to the scheduled caste. This is a shame and causes deep pain.’
As conveyed through Rohith Vemula’s brother, Raja Vemula. Courtesy Sabrang. See here for a rebuttal of Irani’s speech in parliament and a list of demands by the Joint Action Committee for Social Justice, University of Hyderabad.
