"University of Hyderabad has become like a jail where we (students) are being treated as prisoners and those who are coming from outside are treated as visitors and this gate is considered as ‘Mulaqat’ area," said Dontha Prashant while speaking to The Quint.
The Quint tried to conduct a reality check of conditions inside the University of Hyderabad one year after the suicide of research scholar Rohith Vemula; a death which exposed the reality of caste discrimination in institutions of higher learning in India.
Dontha Prashant, a PhD student, was a close friend of Rohith Vemula. He, along with Vijay Kumar, Seshaiah Chemudagunta and Sunkanna Velpua, had faced suspension by the university with Rohith Vemula.
He reiterated the allegation that Rohith Vemula was forced to commit suicide on 17 January 2016 on account of constant humiliation, discrimination and harassment meted out by the university Vice-Chancellor V Appa Rao and the BJP regime. "Despite Rohith's suicide triggering a national movement against the atrocities and discrimination, the situation inside the university has not changed much because the University's Vice-Chancellor has been extensively supported by the BJP regime," he said.
According to Prashant, no outsider was being allowed inside the university premises irrespective of whether they are activists, academicians or intellectuals. "Even if they come in, there are heavy restrictions. VC is using all sorts of draconian measures with the active support of government," he said.
HCU students have decided to observe 17 January as "Rohith Vemula Shahadath (Martyrdom) Din". Rohith's mother, Radhika Vemula, will be participating in the event proposed to be held at Velivada in UoH premises on 17 January at 3:30 pm. Jaan Mohammad, whose brother Mohammad Akhlaq was lynched at Bisada village in Uttar Pradesh’s Dadri district in September 2015, Fatima Nafees, mother of missing JNU student Najeeb Ahmed and survivors of the Una incident are also likely to attend the event.
Although it is not yet known whether the university and local police authorities have granted permission for the event, the organisers are standing firm on going ahead with it.
Video Editor: Mohd Ibrahim
Producer: Sonal Gupta
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