Rohit Vemula is alive
Today is the third death anniversary of Rohit Vemula, who tried his best to fight against casteist forces in Hyderabad University, and ended his life unable to put up with the mammoth political pressure that was exerted on him. Though wide protests and demonstrations happened over his death and the circumstances that forced him to take that decision, the situation in the country remains unchanged. In some ways, the situation of marginalised castes has worsened in some ways. All those accused of abetting Vemula's suicide are still well nestled within the university. All those politicians and the VC of the University, none of them have been held accountable for this death. Cases have been filed in progressive and humanitarian forces that had stood by Vemula.
Kanhaiya and his friends who took the incident across the country are facing sedition cases that have been foisted against them. Social activists that spread his voice across the country are being branded Urban Naxals. Renowned thinkers like Anand Teltumbde have begun to fear for their life and safety at the hands of police who, in all probability, may finish him off. This is how bad the situation has turned into. On the other hand, efforts are on to weaken the democracy. While a dalit student Vemula fought for his rights and committed suicide since the system failed him, the government is preparing to offer reservation to upper caste students. The dalit leaders and politicians are not even in the position to raise their voice against this. Ironically, leaders like Ram Vilas Paswan are supporting this bill.
We need to go over the realities that led to Vemula's suicide. The clash that he had with ABVP leader led to his isolation, denial of education and then subsequently his suicide. False cases and allegations were made against him. Head of the institution harassed him to no end. His fellowship was withheld. The university did not pay heed though he sat alone on a peaceful protest with Ambedkar picture by his side outside the University. He then wrote a letter to the VC that they better give a rope to dalit students who join the university for studies. Vemula was thrown out of the University owing to the pressure exerted by the MP. Media reports have told us that a union minister had also seconded this.
But we need to remember one thing. It was not just the system that drove him to suicide. No secular or other organisations stood with him when the elements of Sangh Parivar and union government harassed a very talented dalit student, highly intelligent one at that who had secured a seat in general category with his hard work without using the reservation. When he was protesting against the authorities for days and nights the only things that have him company were portraits of Ambedkar and Savitri Bai Phule only. He was a comrade to Dalits. Even the comrades didn't want to be identified with him. Because Vemula faced the allegation of having raised a voice of support towards Yakub Memon when he was hanged.
No lions or tigers attack wild buffaloes. When buffaloes move in herds, tigers and lions run away from them. They come back to attack only when the buffalos are alone. This was what exactly happened in Vemula's case. If the leftist organisations had stood by Vemula or if Dalit outfits staged a Hyderabad chalo, the injustice meted out to Vemula would have been a topic or national debate. That would have given him confidence and strength as well. Authorities would have been scared into acting on the complaints at least owing to the mounting pressure. Rohit had noticed that his protest was turning into a wild cry that didn't wake up anyone. He was disappointed with his own people as much as he was, with the system around him. His suicide note carried shades of depression. His note does not blame anyone for his death, but speaks a lot about dispassion, philosophy and disappointment that his life had turned out to be.
Sangh Parivar and dalit outfits came together to kill him. We also need to understand why the BSP steered clear of the protest in support of Vemula. Not just that, when team Kanhaiya was preparing to protest to seek justice for Vemula's death, Mayawati spoke against Kanhaiya and his friends. She may have spoken later in support of Vemula in the Parliament. But she failed to consolidate dalit organisations and get justice for Vemula. But a ray of optimism has begun to shine through with Vemula's sacrifice. The Dalit identity and has turned prominent among the young dalit students. The leftists who has kept caste identity away, began to speak for the dalits.
Vemula's death showed that blue and red had to come together. Youngsters like Kanhaiya and Jignesh rose in politics. Leaders like Narendra Modi who would take pride in the fact that there is no strong opposition party, had to resort to cheap tricks of attempting to silence student leaders such as Shehla Rashid, Kanhaiya and Jignesh. Those who pushed Vemula into suicide may still be roaming free. But Vemula is still alive and is consolidating people across the country. None of the young boys and girls should face the fate as Vemula. If a student from dalit or any other marginalised community faces discrimination against the hands of higher authorities, he has to be supported irrespective of his political preference. Only then the system would pay heed to lesser forces. In the same manner, all parties and outfits across ideologies have to bolster the confidence and support timeless thinkers such Anand Teltumbde.
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ECI website faces outage amid vote counting in Jharkhand, Maharashtra
New Delhi: Election Commission of India’s official results website ‘results.eci.gov.in’ has reportedly experienced a technical outage on Saturday morning, at a time when India closely watches the high-stakes Maharashtra and Jharkhand assembly poll battle.
Visitors visiting the site were met with non-functional links and a generic “counting in progress” message, leaving them without updated election data. The ECI has not issued an official explanation for the disruption.
Vote counting, which began at 8 a.m. with postal ballots, is underway for 288 assembly seats in Maharashtra and 81 in Jharkhand. Early trends suggest a lead for the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra, currently ahead in 141 seats, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is leading in 96. In Jharkhand, the BJP-led NDA is ahead in 43 seats, while the ruling JMM-led alliance is trailing with leads in 33 constituencies.
Additionally, counting is underway for 48 assembly bypolls across 13 states and two parliamentary seats, Nanded in Maharashtra and Wayanad in Kerala.
