Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar on Thursday reportedly dodged a question on the commission report that probed the death of University of Hyderabad (UoH) scholar Rohith Vemula, alleging that he was not a Dalit.
Claiming that officials were yet to brief him about the contents of the report, Javedkar told The Hindu, "I will not prejudge the case until I am briefed by officials on the committee report."
The report adds:
He said the government would devise grievance redress mechanisms to ensure that students were not led to taking extreme steps in universities. The Ministry would ensure that such mechanisms were in place across Central universities...Javadekar said the Justice Roopanwal Committee had recommended strengthening and formalising mechanisms to ensure that students did not slip into depression and resort to “extreme steps.”
The report which was first accessed by The Indian Express, reportedly blamed Rohith for his own suicide and stated that union ministers Bandaru Dattatreya and Smriti Irani were only discharging their duties.
It also made several allegations including one, which claimed that Rohith’s mother, Radhika, "branded" herself a Dalit to avail the benefits of reservation.
Following outrage, Rohith's brother Raja Vemula criticized the allegations made in the report.
Raja stated that the report submitted by "Injustice Ashok Kumar Roopanwala," was aimed at saving BJP Union Ministers, Podile Apparao and BJP MLC Ramachandra Rao along with ABVP members.