NEW DELHI: The Justice (retd.) AK Roopanwal Commission, that was constituted by the Ministry of Human Resource Development to look into the suicide of Dalit PhD scholar Rohith Vemula at the University of Hyderabad in January this year, has concluded that Vemula did not belong to the Scheduled Caste (SC) community.

The one man commission submitted its report to to UGC officials, according to media reports. The conclusion that Vemula was not a Dalit falls in line with statements made by then-HRD Minister Sushma Swaraj, that alleged that Vemula belonged to the Vaddera community — a caste which falls under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category.

The fact that Vemula himself identified as a Dalit -- as per the caste of his mother Radhika Vemula, and had highlighted being “reduced to his immediate identity” and his birth being a “fatal accident” in his suicide note, seems to have been overlooked. “The value of a man was reduced to his immediate identity and nearest possibility. To a vote. To a number. To a thing. Never was a man treated as a mind. As a glorious thing made up of stardust. In very field, in studies, in streets, in politics, and in dying and living,” Vemula had written.

Further, the establishment of Vemula’s cast of significance, as Union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya and HCU vice-chancellor Appa Rao were named in an FIR lodged by the police under the SC/ST Atrocities (Prevention) Act in connection with Vemula’s suicide.

Rohith Vemula’s brother, Raja, unsurprisingly rejected the conclusions on the judicial commission. “We lived like Dalits. We were raised in a Dalit community. Yes, my father was from a backward class, but whatever we know is from our experience of living like a Dalit. We have been discriminated against all our lives. Rohith referred to this in his letter too,” Raja told The Indian Express.

Earlier this month, the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) had declared Vemula a Dalit and had directed the state government to extend all the benefits that his family is entitled to under the BPL category.

Further, reports suggest, the judicial commission probe exonerates the Vice Chancellors and other authorities. The VC -- Appa Rao -- particularly, had come under criticism for bowing to pressure and suspending Rohith Vemula and four other Dalit students earlier in the year. The suspension was the trigger for Vemula’s suicide.

As the chain of events go, Union Minister of State for Labour Bandaru Dattatraya on August 11 last year to then HRD Minister Smriti Irani, urging the minister to take action as the university was becoming a “a den of casteist, extremist and anti-national politics.” Following the letter, five Dalit scholars were singled out, and faced enquiries, threats and persecution that led them to be ‘expelled’ from the hostel, without access to the university facilities except basic classes. Sources said that the emboldened ABVP made them a target.

Action, however, had even preceded the letter that was just a formal cover for what was then made official. From July the University stopped paying Rohith the monthly stipend of Rs 25,000 with students alleging that he was targeted for raising important issues under the banner of the Ambedkar Students Association that the Minister, in his intolerance, had dubbed anti-national.

A chain of letters written by the HRD Ministry to the VC followed, with the University in September succumbing to government pressure and suspending the students. In January this year, the five students were evicted from the hostel rooms and took refuge in a tent on the campus. On Sunday, January 17 Rohith clearly despairing, without money and recourse, took his life leaving behind a suicide note that reflects the pain he had undergone, explicitly highlighting his caste identity

The judicial commission set up the HRD Ministry, however, has chosen to overlook Rohith’s “immediate identity” in addition to having exonerated the adminstration.

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