In an attempt to "carve a collective memory" of Rohith Vemula, whose suicide last month shook the nation and once again put a spotlight on the issue of discrimination against Dalits, a group of his friends and protesters have started an initiative to form an anthology surrounding his life and his eventual death.
The group has now invited contributions from public "in any conceivable written and graphic, albeit textual, form, polemics to poetry, artworks to reportage, analytical critiques to philosophical meditations, for an upcoming multi-language anthology, that will strive to serve as a reference material which shall include all legal documents and detailed considerations of the event itself."
This project will be carried out by Chittibabu Padavala, a student of Holocaust studies, Pasunoori Ravinder, a post-doctoral fellow and recipient of Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award, Sujatha Surepally , an activist and Principal of University College of Arts, Jashwanth Jessie, Bahujan intellectual and commentator , and Abul Kalam Azad, a poet and a student at IIT Madras.
Speaking to The News Minute, Abul said the anthology is an attempt to "memorialise" the Dalit scholar, a way to "remember" him.
"Rohith Vemula is more than just a person. He represents the anger among many of us against the discrimination of Dalits," he said.
The anthology, he further says, will capture the events surrounding his life and "not let the moment pass".
The anthology will be published in the form of a book.
All contributions (multiple contributions are also welcome) can be sent before February 10 to dr.pasunoori@gmail.com or to any of the editors on Facebook.