Students from Jawaharlal Nehru University started an indefinite hunger strike on Monday demanding that Union ministers Bandaru Dattatreya, Smriti Irani and vice-chancellor of the University of Hyderabad Appa Rao Podile be arrested for abetting the suicide of Dalit scholar Rohit Vemula. The JNU students' move was part of nationwide protests under the banner of "Justice for Rohith". The Deccan Chronicle reported that condolence meetings were held in universities around the world, including in Boston, San Francisco and Pennsylvania in the US and Johannesburg. Foreign students, too, held their own protests demanding action.
On Sunday, Podile had gone on indefinite leave of absence, leaving senior-most professor Vipin Srivastava in charge amid tension on campus following Vemula's death. Srivastava's temporary appointment further angered protesting students, who said Srivastava had headed the committee that suspended five Dalit scholars from the varsity, following which Vemula committed suicide.
According to the SC/ST Teachers’ Forum, the physics professor was accused in the suicide of another Dalit student named Senthil in 2008. The forum's convenor Sudhakar Babu alleged that Srivastava can influence the Judicial Commission established by the Human Resource Development Ministry to investigate Vemula’s suicide. He added that they want an “acceptable” professor appointed vice-chancellor to ensure a fair investigation.
Vemula's mother Radhika was admitted to the intensive care unit of a private hospital on Sunday after she complained of chest pain, PTI reported.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy termed Rohith's suicide tragic and said forensic experts are conducting examining his suicide note as there is an allegation that a portion of the note was struck out by someone. Swamy alleged that Rohith had blamed the Students' Federation of India and Ambedkar Students Association for the incident. He also declared that anyone protesting about the incident for more than a day should be thrown out of campus.
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