June 15, 2016
Press Statement
The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) strongly condemns the suspension of two professors from the Hyderabad Central University on charges of supporting the students’ protest in the ongoing agitation in the university following the tragic suicide of Rohith Vemula.
Professors K Y Ratnam and Tataghata 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.
A case was filed against the Vice Chancellor Appa Rao for abetting the suicide of Rohith Vemula. Cases were also filed with the Commission for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes. 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.
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 state government of Telangana continues to favour the Vice Chancellor who is acting at the behest of the Union HRD Minister rather than proceed on the criminal cases filed against the Vice Chancellor.
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 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.