Rahul Gandhi requests Telangana CM to enact Rohith Vemula Act

Rahul Gandhi urges Telangana CM to enact Rohith Vemula Act to end caste-based discrimination in education.

Former Congress president and Leader of Opposition in Parliament, Rahul Gandhi urged Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy to enact Rohith Vemula Act ‘so that no child of India has to face what B.R. Ambedkar, Rohith Vemula and a million others have had to endure’.

In a letter addressed to the Chief Minister, the former Congress president cited the caste-based discrimination experienced by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar at school and said “It is a shame that even today, millions of students from Dalit, Adivasi and OBC communities have to face such brutal discrimination in our educational system”.

Various sections in the two Telugu States (Telangana and Andhra Pradesh) have been demanding enactment of the act after Rohith Vemula, a Dalit scholar at University of Hyderabad, ended his life in January 2016. It was one of the key demands during the protest held by the university’s students after Rohith’s death, which gathered the attention of the nation. 

A few days ago, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah assured that the government will enact the act - to eliminate caste- and identity-based discrimination in educational institutions. Mr. Siddaramaiah announced this in response to Mr. Gandhi’s request.

The LoP cited Dr. Ambedkar’s description of his experience in school: “I knew I was an untouchable, and that untouchables were subjected to certain indignities and discrimination. For instance, I knew that in school I could not sit in the midst of my classmates according to my rank, but that I was to sit in a corner by myself”.

Mr. Gandhi added that the Telangana Chief Minister would agree that what Dr. Ambedkar faced was shameful and should not be endured by any child in India and the murder of bright young people like Rohith Vemula, Payal Tadvi and Darshan Solanki is simply not acceptable. “It is time to put a firm end to  this,” he said.