Dalit Student Suicide: Kejriwal, FTII Join Anti-University Protest

Protests intensify against Rohith Vemula’s suicide in Hyderabad University, as FTII and Arvind Kejriwal join in.

The Human Resource Development Ministry had sent a two-member committee to Hyderabad to assess the situation after Rohith Vemula, a Dalit PhD student committed suicide.

The two-member committee, sent by the HRD Ministry, visited the university campus on Tuesday, even as Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and students of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) joined the protest.

Our role has been to hear out everyone. We’ve come to meet the students (of University of Hyderabad) because they had something to share with us.

Shakila Shamsu, Member, HRD Ministry Committee

Also read: Rohith Vemula’s Suicide Reveals Letters From Bandaru, HRD Office

The students of Delhi University and had taken to the streets to protest against the suicide of Rohith Vemula. The students protesting outside the HRD Ministry were met with water canons and lathi charge by the police on Monday.

On Tuesday, Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister of Delhi issued a statement, drawing parallels between the killing of two dalit children in Faridabad in October 2015.