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Dalit scholar suicide: Azam seeks President's intervention

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Press Trust of India Lucknow
Last Updated : Jan 19 2016 | 7:28 PM IST
Holding the BJP-led government at the Centre responsible for the suicide of a Dalit research scholar in Hyderabad, senior Uttar Pradesh minister Azam Khan today sought President Pranab Mukherji's intervention in the matter.
"The student's suicide note raises suspicion...The party heading the government at the Centre and its affiliated organisations are responsible for it...These parties are anti-Dalit and anti-minorities and do not want them (students) to study and come on par with others," Khan said in a statement here.
The minister for parliamentary affairs made a fervent appeal to President Pranab Mukherji to intervene in the case.
"These parties are against humanity and its example is the mayhem at Gujarat and Muzaffarnagar," Khan said, adding that their main objective was to harm Dalits and minorities and their educational institutions like the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and Jamia Milia Islamia.
Meanwhile, Khan vowed to prevent fascist powers from succeeding in their design to close down such educational institutions.
Terming the suicide of Rohit Vemula as most unfortunate, the minister assured help of every kind to the deceased's family.
V Rohit, a Dalit PhD scholar, was found hanging at the Hyderabad Central University's hostel room on January 17, triggering protests from fellow students as well as other educational institutes in various parts of the country.
The issue took a political turn with allegations that the extreme action by Rohit was a result of discrimination against dalit students at the behest of Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya, who had written a letter to HRD Minister Smriti Irani, seeking action against their "anti-national acts".

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First Published: Jan 19 2016 | 7:28 PM IST

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