ABVP today demanded a CBI inquiry into the affairs of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) for Social Justice at Hyderabad Central University, which is spearheading the agitation over the suicide of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula.
The demand comes in the wake of allegations made by former SFI leader and general secretary of HCU Students' Union, Raju Kumar Sahu, that the agitation was massively funded by Congress, Left and opportunist forces of the country. Sahu, who had been an active participant in the protests following Vemula's death, had quit the SFI on May 11, in protest against the "opportunistic politics of SFI".
Addressing a press conference here, a group of ABVP leaders of HCU, also condemned the "divisive agitation by JAC, wherein several outsiders with vested interests were brought to fuel the movement".
"Now that the cat is out of bag and the fake agitation of JAC/ SFI/ ASA (Ambedkar Students' Association) is exposed, ABVP demands a thorough enquiry into the agitation of JAC and its supporters," ABVP leaders K Palsaniya, Kumar Nayak, N Susheel Kumar and others said.
"The accounts of JAC as well as the bank accounts of its leaders and the faculty associated with them need to be examined to ensure the sources of funding for the (ongoing) agitation," they said.
A CBI enquiry also needs to be constituted into the conduct of leaders of ASA just before the death of Rohith Vemula. ABVP is of the opinion that the suicide was due to instigation and provocation by persons near and dear to him, they alleged.
According to the ABVP leaders, the ASA members held protests against the hanging of Mumbai-blasts convict Yakub Memon on August 3, 2015 at the HCU campus, and the next day they manhandled its member Susheel Kumar.
"Only a CBI inquiry into the murky affairs of JAC would reveal the truth. We dare JAC to agree for the enquiry into the affairs of ASA/SFI/JAC from August 4, 2015 till date," they added.
On the expose by Sahu, ABVP would like to declare that there is no need to induce any person. The truth is bound to come out on its own, the ABVP leaders asserted.
ABVP further demanded that the "fake" agitation must be
stopped by JAC and it should vacate the space occupied by them at shopping complex (on HCU premises) and allow students to focus on their studies.
Members of JAC for Social Justice at HCU had yesterday refuted Sahu's allegations that the JAC was funded by Congress and Left parties, and said that they were supported financially by students and faculty members.
They also demanded his resignation from the post of general secretary of the Students Union (SU) of the HCU, and threatened to get him impeached if he failed to do so.
Vemula, who was associated with the Students Federation of India (SFI), before joining ASA, was found hanging in a hostel room on HCU campus on January 17. JAC has been demanding removal of HCU Vice Chancellor Podile Appa Rao, who is amongst those booked for abetment of the Dalit scholar's suicide.
