Ram Karan Nirmal, a 31-year-old student who raised slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi at an event at Lucknow's Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University on Friday, was reportedly evicted from his hostel accommodation as a punitive measure. Nirmal and his friend Amrendra Kumar Arya were earlier escorted out of the event by security officials after they chanted slogans of "Modi murdabad" and "Modi, go back".
Nirmal told The Hindu, "I voiced my dissent. For that I was evicted from the Siddhartha Boys’ Hostel of the university and my boarding for the night cancelled, even though my room was booked for two days. We had deposited Rs. 200 for the boarding."
According to reports, the two men were law students who belonged to the Dalit community. They were protesting against Modi because of his silence over the suicide of Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula in Hyderabad last Sunday. The prime minister eventually did break his silence over the incident at the same event. Modi condoled Vemula’s death and said he was saddened by it. He also said his government is committed to the welfare of Dalit students.
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