Hyderabad: Rohith Vemula's story is one everyone knows at the Hyderabad University. He was a Dalit PhD scholar from a very poor family who was pushed by the system to take his own life. On his Facebook picture gallery, there are testimonials of his family’s struggle to fund his education. The sewing machine that earned his mother Rs 150 a day, the fan that runs on solar power, the fridge that made them popular with the neighbours tell the story of a young idealist boy.
Barely 20 meters from the protest venue in the scholars hostel room 207, where Rohith hung himself, his friend Prashanth is one of the PhD scholars who was thrown out of hostel for his so called anti-national activities along with Rohith.
Prashanth said, "Rohith felt there was heavy injustice in the way he had been punished. Discrimination is practiced in a subtle manner, the way friendships are formed etc. In 2013, a Dalit student was beaten. His abuser got one week suspension. But for us they threw us out of hostel."
Caste fault lines run deep in India’s temples of higher education and the sense of injustice is almost palpable.
Prashanth said, "When we come to campus, social networking is on caste and class. Those who wear Levis, other branded clothes and who wear tailored shirts don't mingle. In my village, my friend's grandmother, a Reddy, used to scold him saying why you are playing with a Dalit."
Prashanth's story is much like Rohith’s, one that weaves in class struggle, poverty, and families who try to rise above their circumstances.
Taking a deep breath, Prashanth said, “My father is an agricultural labourer. He doesn't know how to read. He did not want us to be in his position. So he spent every penny on our education."
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