The unrest in University of Hyderabad took a fresh turn on Wednesday
when students' union general secretary and Students Federation of India
(SFI) member Raju Kumar Sahu `quit' the party citing irreconcilable
differences over the manner in which the agitation was being carried out
on campus following the suicide of research scholar Rohith Vemula.
Sahu, who had been an active participant in the protests following Rohith's death, on Wednesday told the media that he had quit the SFI.He further hinted that he was feeling lonely and was going down the same path as Rohith because of the "SFI's false principles and reality". However, Sahu as of Wednesday continued to remain general secretary of the students' union.
Lashing out at the SFI and Joint Action Committee (JAC) for Social Justice, Sahu said the ongoing Rohith `movement' has "putting the future of students at stake". "My loneliness and alienation are affecting my studies and also apparently driving me towards the unfortunate path undertaken by Rohith Vemula. I think coming into the open and getting distanced from the wrong way would save me from the doom (sic)," said Raju.
He cited several reasons for his decision to quit, chief among which were the "opportunistic politics of SFI", false propaganda being carried out against certain people, students losing out on opportunities due to the agitations and the irrelevance of the movement.
Speaking in greater detail about his allegation of opportunistic politics, Sahu said that this could be seen right from the selection of candidates for union elections -a process in which, according to him, caste and communal cards played a heavy role."Region and religion are also major factors in SFI politics today , though outwardly it is proclaimed that they are above petty politics of caste, community and religion," he said. Raju also rubbished videos of individual narrations of atrocities at the hands of the police during the protest and said these stories were only told to "garner undue mileage".
Sahu, who had been an active participant in the protests following Rohith's death, on Wednesday told the media that he had quit the SFI.He further hinted that he was feeling lonely and was going down the same path as Rohith because of the "SFI's false principles and reality". However, Sahu as of Wednesday continued to remain general secretary of the students' union.
Lashing out at the SFI and Joint Action Committee (JAC) for Social Justice, Sahu said the ongoing Rohith `movement' has "putting the future of students at stake". "My loneliness and alienation are affecting my studies and also apparently driving me towards the unfortunate path undertaken by Rohith Vemula. I think coming into the open and getting distanced from the wrong way would save me from the doom (sic)," said Raju.
He cited several reasons for his decision to quit, chief among which were the "opportunistic politics of SFI", false propaganda being carried out against certain people, students losing out on opportunities due to the agitations and the irrelevance of the movement.
Speaking in greater detail about his allegation of opportunistic politics, Sahu said that this could be seen right from the selection of candidates for union elections -a process in which, according to him, caste and communal cards played a heavy role."Region and religion are also major factors in SFI politics today , though outwardly it is proclaimed that they are above petty politics of caste, community and religion," he said. Raju also rubbished videos of individual narrations of atrocities at the hands of the police during the protest and said these stories were only told to "garner undue mileage".
He quoted a few lines from Rohith's suicide note, where the deceased
scholar had hinted that all was not well with the ASA (Ambedkar
Students' Association) and the SFI. "He (Rohith) was disillusioned and
went on to join ASA. It is very unfortunate that he believed in radical
methods to achieve justice for the poor. According to me, SFI nurtured
feelings of hatred in him which he was displaying against others, whom
he perceived to be his enemies. It is very unfortunate that he committed
suicide," Sahu said. Sahu also said that the JAC and SFI unit of UoH
were controlled by `external forces'. "As per my under standing, the
movement is massively funded by the Congress, Left and op portunist
forces of the country . Certain faculty members and outsiders including
politicians are also keen on continuing the agitation," he added.
About money flow, he said "certain individual members" of the move ment were having lavish parties daily .
In response to "shocking" allega tions made by Raju, the SFI expelled
him from the primary membership of the party for "maligning the organisation and the movement Justice for Rohith". Akshita Indra, Central
Committee member of SFI, said, "There was no sign of this coming. He
(Sahu) had in fact staged a walk out from the university general body
meeting on April 12, demanding justice for Rohith and insisting that
vice-chancellor P Appa Rao not chair the meeting.Whatever Sahu said
today is what ABVP has been saying all long. Either he has been
threatened or lured.He seems to be parroting someone else's script."
While Sahu's resignation prompted heavy backlash from the student community on social media, he refuted being forced by anyone. "Since four months, SFI has been protesting without motive. Even I want justice for Rohith, but not at the cost of other students' future. If they want to protest, they should seek a CBI inquiry and protest in a legitimate manner.Protesting at the shopping complex is not going to serve any purpose. This is my individual stance. No authority forced me to say this," he told TOI.
Raju's Demands:
1. JAC and its constituents should immediately stop the agitation and adopt constitutional methods for achieving justice for Rohit Vemula.
2. JAC/SFI/ASA should stop name-calling of professors including the VC. If the VC is found to be guilty, he will be convicted anyway. Till that time, no one has any right to indict him.
3. JAC/SFI/ASA should distance themselves from political parties and also professors should not be allowed to participate in the agitation.
4. JAC/SFI/ASA should immediately abandon politics of hatred and adopt politics of cooperation and reconciliation so that UoH can retain its academic superiority.
5. The students' union cannot be partial in its approach. While seeking justice for Rohit Vemula. It cannot be ignored that another student Susheel Kumar was attacked by ASA members. Students' union has to unequivocally condemn the attack and seek justice for Susheel also.
6. JAC for social justice should publish its accounts from the date of death of Rohit Vemula till now and provide details of sources for arranging the funds.
Courtesy: Times of India.
Below are the papers shared by Raju Kumar Sahu on social media.
No comments:
Post a Comment