By TCN News
London: Representatives of rights groups, Indian Diaspora and Dalit organisations marked India’s Republic Day eve by holding a candlelit vigil outside the Indian High Commission in London.
A press release issued by the South Asia Solidarity Group described the vigil as a display of solidarity with the hunger-striking students of the University of Hyderabad and other places across India against the “institutional murder of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula by university authorities and Indian cabinet ministers.”
Holding banners, portraits of Rohith Vemula and Dr Ambedkar and candles in their hands and raising placards participants braved windy and cold weather and stood in a sombre silence in front of the High Commission from 4 pm to 7 pm.
Captions on the placards read, “Manusmriti to Smriti Irani Hindutva Tyranny Continues”; “Justice for Rohith!”; “Dalit Lives Matter”; “No More Institutional Casteist Killings!”; “Modi’s Ministers Smriti Irani and Bandaru Dattatreya Must Be Dismissed!” and “Bring Casteist VC Appa Rao Podile to Justice!”
A letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and signed by the representatives of participating organisations was also handed to the High Commission demanding the dismissal of HRD Minister Smriti Irani and Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya who, it said, “instituted a witch hunt against Dalit students at the University of Hyderabad and whose actions and interventions pushed Rohith Vemula to despair and suicide.”; dismissal of and action against Hyderabad University Vice Chancellor Appa Rao Podille. Demand has also been made for urgent and effective measures to end “the institutional discrimination against Dalits in Indian institutions of higher education.”