Students, teachers and activists took to the streets of Delhi, on Tuesday, to protest against the death of Hyderabad Central University Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula, last month.
A man shouted ‘Dalit virodhi Kejriwal’ during Kejriwal’s speech at the protest march in Jantar Mantar.
When did I say I am against reservations? I have always supported them.Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister of Delhi
Kejriwal had also tweeted earlier in the day saying he would join the march.
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi also joined the protest.
The RSS only wants to live in the past, and not think of the present and future. Rohit Vemula was a symbol of India’s future and his voice was crushed and buried. This is happening in universities across the country and students’ voices are being muted.Rahul Gandhi, VP, Congress
Rahul Gandhi accused the Modi government and RSS of crushing voices of dissent of college and university students across the country and pitched for a law to protect them from “discrimination” and “suppression”.
“We need a law to ensure that students in colleges and universities do not face discrimination and their voice is not stifled,” Rahul said.
The march organised by the Joint Action Committee for Social Justice started a protest against Vemula’s “institutional murder”.
At least 3,000 members from parties, including the All India Students Association (AISA), Students’ Federation of India (SFI), students from JNU, Delhi University, Hyderabad and Kerala varsities marched from Ambedkar Bhavan to Jantar Mantar.
Their demands include:
The march comes after JNU teachers and students decided to observe a day’s strike, according to reports.
Vemula’s death and the JNU row will be discussed in Parliament on February 25 after the rail budget, according to ANI.
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