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Bowing to pressure from all quarters in the wake of the death of Ph.D. scholar Rohith Vemula, the University of Hyderabad on Thursday revoked the expulsion of four Dalit students from hostels of the Ambedkar Students Association (ASA).
It was an action-packed day on the university campus, with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal demanding the arrest of Union Human Resources Development (HRD) Minister Smriti Irani, and the reported resignation of 15 faculty members and the chief medical officer in solidarity with the Dalit students.
University authorities, however, offered no confirmation of the resignations.
Addressing the students on campus during a visit, Kejriwal said Irani’s name should be included in the first information report (FIR) already filed against Vice-Chancellor P Appa Rao, Union Minister of State B. Dattatreya and two others.
The five students, including Rohit, had been expelled under pressure brought to bear by Dattatreya on the Vice-Chancellor, Kejriwal said.
Kejriwal dismissed the allegation that the expelled students had involved in ‘anti-national’ activities, and said that speaking about Ambedkar and fighting for Dalit causes were, in fact, acts of nationalism.
Lok Satta Party President Jaya Prakash Narayan, who too visited the campus, participated in a relay hunger strike in solidarity with the students.
An emergency meeting of the university executive council decided to revoke the expulsion. The five students had been expelled from the hostel although they had been permitted to attend classes. “The council after taking into account the extraordinary situation prevailing in the university, and after discussing the issue in detail, resolved to terminate the punishment imposed on the students concerned with immediate effect,’’ the university said in a release. Vice-Chancellor P Appa Rao appealed to the university community to maintain calm and urged everyone to contribute to resuming regular class work, research activities and administrative work.
However, there is still tension on campus. While hailing the revocation of the students’ expulsion as a “victory”, the student joint action committee demanded the resignation of the Vice-Chancellor and said the students’ agitation would continue.
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