Hyderabad: Bowing to pressure, the University of Hyderabad (UoH) on Thursday revoked the suspension of four Dalit research scholars, but students continued to protest for the fifth day in a row over the suicide of Dalit PhD scholar Rohith Vermula.
The decision to revoke the suspension was taken by the Executive Council of the university.
"After taking into account the extraordinary situation prevailing in the university, and after discussing the issue in detail, it resolved to terminate the punishment imposed on the students concerned with immediate effect," a statement by the university said.
UoH's Vice-Chancellor P. Appa Rao urged the university community to maintain harmony.
NDA ally LJP seeks probe
BJP ally and Lok Janshakti Party MP Chirag Paswan also demanded a probe into a letter written by Dattatreya to the HRD ministry ahead of the Dalit research scholar's suicide.
"The suicide should be probed by an independent agency, which should decide who it should be probing. Those found guilty must not be spared, no matter how influential they are," he said.
Arvind Kejriwal wants Smriti Irani, Bandaru Dattatreya sacked
Earlier, in the day, addressing the protesting students at the campus, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to sack his ministers Smriti Irani and Bandaru Dattatreya over the suicide by Rohith Vemula.
BJP hits back
The BJP hit back, accusing the Congress of "giving a communal colour or caste angle" to every untoward incident in the country. "It is very unfortunate," BJP national secretary Srikant Sharma said.
Sharma also demanded to know why Kejriwal, who visited Hyderabad, did not "meet even one family of dengue victims in Delhi".
10 SC/ST teachers quit
Also, protesting against Human Resource Development Minister Irani's "misleading" statement, 10 Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe teachers quit their administrative roles.
Rohith Vemula's death
Rohith Vemula was found hanging from the ceiling of a room in the New Research Scholars' Hostel late on Sunday. He was one of the five Dalit students suspended from the university and expelled from the hostel. Before committing suicide, he had been staging a protest on the campus for 15 days.
