New Delhi : The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) on Wednesday condemned the suspension of two professors of Hyderabad University on charges of supporting the students’ protest following the suicide of Dalit student Rohith Vemula.
The university’s executive council had on Monday suspended Ratnam, a Dalit, and assistant professor Tathagata Sengupta who participated in the “justice for Rohith” movement.
“Professor Ratnam and professor Sengupta tried to stop the brutal police lathicharge against the students when the Vice Chancellor had ordered police entry into the campus to break up the student agitation,” the CPI-M said in a statement.
“Instead of proceeding against the Vice Chancellor and the other officials who created the circumstances for the tragic suicide of Rohith Vemula, the university administration has now turned the case against those who have already been victims of the vindictive attitude,” it noted.
A case was filed against Vice Chancellor Appa Rao for abetting Vemula’s suicide. Cases were also filed with the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes Commission.
“The Vice Chancellor had got cases registered against the professors and the Telangana government sent them to jail. That they were jailed for nine days is now being used as a pretext by the Vice Chancellor to suspend them,” the CPI-M said.
Targetting the state government, the CPI-M accused it of “favouring the Vice Chancellor who is acting at the behest of Union Human Resource Development Ministry”.
“The Polit Bureau of the CPI-M reiterates that the Vice Chancellor should be immediately removed and the central government intervene to ensure restoration of normalcy in the campus of this central university,” the statement said.
“The Telangana state government should immediately proceed on the criminal cases filed against the Vice Chancellor and the others for abetting the suicide of Rohith Vemula,” added the statement.