Congress keeps the caste pot boiling: Siddaramaiah vows to pass ‘Rohith Vemula Act’ even after Telangana closure report confirmed Vemula was not a Dalit at all
On 19th April, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah wrote to Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi to inform him that he had instructed his legal team to start drafting the “Rohith Vemula Act.” The legislation is intended to eliminate “caste-based discrimination” in educational institutions. Reflecting the usual pettiness of Congress’s political tactics, the party seems disinclined to let the conversation about the caste of the PhD scholar from the University of Hyderabad, who committed suicide on 17th January 2016, die down only to exploit the caste divide for electoral gain.
More importantly, the Telangana Police presented a closure report regarding the case to the Telangana High Court, on 3rd May of last year. It emphasized that he did not belong to the Scheduled Caste (SC) category and that he died by suicide, fearing the exposure of his true caste identity. The authorities also exonerated former Secunderabad MP and current governor of Haryana Bandaru Dattatreya, Legislative Council Member N Ramachander Rao, former Vice Chancellor Appa Rao, ABVP (Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad) leaders and former Union Minister Smriti Irani.
The recent announcement followed Siddaramaiah’s statement in which he reaffirmed his government’s intention to pass the law as soon as possible on 18th April after Rae Bareli Lok Sabha MP asked the Karnataka government to introduce the act, stating that caste discrimination in education must end. “I too, deeply share your sentiments, we must join hands to bring the Dalits, Adivasis and Backward classes into the mainstream. That the oppressed classes must no more face any discrimination in our educational system. My government and I are committed to ensuring an egalitarian and equal society,” he claimed in the letter.
In a 16th April letter to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Rahul Gandhi urged the state government to pass the “Rohith Vemula Act” to guarantee that no one is subjected to caste-based discrimination in the educational system. The development transpired after he recently met with students and teachers of the Dalit, Adivasi and OBC communities in Parliament and was allegedly informed that caste discrimination is pervasive in higher education.
“I knew I was an untouchable, and that untouchables were subjected to certain indignities and discriminations. For instance, I knew that in school I could not sit in the midst of my classmates according to my rank, but that I was to sit in a corner by myself,” the Gandhi scion wrote, quoting from Dr BR Ambedkar’s memoir.
“Ambedkar demonstrated that education is the primary means by which even the most deprived can become empowered and break the caste system. But it is very unfortunate that even after decades, lakhs of students are facing caste discrimination in our education system. This discrimination has taken the lives of promising students like Rohith Vemula, Payal Tadvi and Darshan Solanki,” he added.
“The reference in your letter dated 16th April 2025, to the incident faced by Dr BR Ambedkar, as narrated by him is indeed a sad reality even to this day. No child or adult must face the shame and stigma faced by Babasaheb,” Siddaramaiah remarked. As expected, the two leaders brought up Dr. BR Ambedkar and the discrimination he endured to resonate with public emotions while conveniently overlooking the fact that, unlike Ambedkar, Rohith Vemula was not identified as an SC, according to the police under Congress party’s government.
Telangana Police exposed the truth
“There is no evidence of any fact or circumstance available on the record which dragged him to commit suicide and no one is responsible for his death,” the closure report on Rohith Vemula’s death case pointed out.
It further conveyed that he took his life because “he had his own problems and was not happy with worldly affairs. If he would have been angry with the decision of the University, certainly either he would have written in specific words or would have indicated in this regard. But he did not do the same. It shows that the circumstances prevailing in the university at the time were not the reason for Rohith’s death.”
The closure report stated that Rohith Vemula obtained the SC certificate from his mother and was “aware that he does not belong to the Scheduled Caste.” It mentioned that he might have been always apprehensive since he could have lost his academic degrees and possibly been prosecuted if the truth had ever come to light.
Additionally, in his report, retired Justice Ashok Kumar Roopanwal, who looked into the circumstances at the University of Hyderabad that resulted in student Rohith Vemula’s suicide, noted that “the suicide did not relate to any activities of the university administration or the above political leaders, including the vice-chancellor, Prof. Appa Rao Podile.” He made the decision entirely on his own.
No end to caste politics
On the same day that the Telangana police revealed the circumstances surrounding Rohith Vemula’s death, the state’s Director General of Police (DGP) Ravi Gupta declared their intention to pursue additional investigations into the case. “As some doubts have been expressed by the mother and others of the deceased, Rohith Vemula, on the investigation conducted, it has been decided to conduct further investigation into the case. A petition will be filed in the court concerned requesting the Hon’ble Magistrate to permit further investigation into the case,” he informed.
He had previously stated that the case’s final report was completed in 2018 and was delivered to the jurisdictional court on 21st March 2024. “It is to state that the investigation officer in the case was Assistant Commissioner of Police, Madhapur and the final closure report in the case was prepared last year i.e. before November 2023 itself, based on the investigation conducted,” he stated.
It was evidently an effort to continue stirring the contentious issue of caste politics, a strategy that the Congress party has frequently resorted to in their pursuit of power since being removed from the central government and facing significant defeats in various states at the hands of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Ecosystem echoes same lies
Yogendra Yadav, a veteran propagandist and part-time political figure, took to social media to make similar accusations in an attempt to further capitalize on Rohith Vemula’s death and perpetuate disinformation crafted by the opposition parties to criticize the BJP-led central government.
“My birth is a fatal accident – these words of Rohith Vemula represent not just an individual agony, but the structural reality of caste discrimination in our educational institutions. If universities are centres of knowledge, reason and freedom, why was Rohith Vemula forced to get tired of his identity politics? Where are the roots of this injustice? What are these forces that fear the idea of equality in society and institutionalise the politics of division? This question must be answered in honour of Rohith’s memory,” he shared online.
He chose to ignore the facts and instead spread propaganda, a move that underscores the desperation felt by Leftists after Narendra Modi’s third consecutive return as the prime minister of the country. After an official investigation concluded that there was no evidence of caste discrimination and that Rohith Vemula ended his life for personal reasons, he effectively associated the incident to issues of injustice, societal inequality and the institutionalization of divisive politics, which were not pertinent to the actual case but rather more reflective of their agenda.
Congress and its divisive agenda
On 5th April of last year, the Congress party provoked significant backlash by seeking to divide the nation along caste lines in its Lok Sabha election manifesto. This narrative has been persistently highlighted by senior party figures, especially Rahul Gandhi, both domestically and internationally. Congress committed to carrying out a nationwide caste census to assess the socio-economic status of various sub-castes as well as pledged to incorporate fishing communities into the caste census.
The party notably sought to impose the “Rohit Vemula Act” throughout the nation if it secured power at the centre. “We will enact the Rohith Vemula Act to address discrimination faced by students belonging to the backward and oppressed communities in educational institutions,” the manifesto read. “Congress will conduct a nation-wide Socio-Economicand Caste Census to enumerate the castes and sub-castes and their socio-economic conditions. Based on the data, we will strengthen the agenda for affirmative action,” it outlined.
Congress even declared its intention to raise the reservation cap from the current 50%, as stipulated by the Supreme Court of India, a promise that party leaders have consistently reiterated. It also vowed to enhance the distribution of public works contracts to members of the Scheduled Castes (SCs)/Scheduled Tribes (STs) community. Moreover, Congress pledged to implement a law that would provide reservations for SC/ST and OBC (Other Backward Class) groups in private educational institutions.
Drawing inspiration from American politics, the grand old party even committed to creating a Diversity Commission” to enhance diversity in both education and employment sectors, both public and private.
The caste reality
According to Rohith Vemula’s father Mani Kumar, he and his spouse are not Mala of Madigas (SC/ST) but rather members of the Veddera caste. The statement was in contradiction to the reports that his mother Radhika Vemula, belongs to a Dalit community (SC or ST) and he opted to identify with her caste after the couple separated.
His father emphasised that Rohith Vemula was murdered and criticized leftist groups for exploiting his son’s death to launch attacks against the Modi administration. Moreover, his mother alleged that she was born into a Mala caste (SC) family but was raised by a Veddera family.
In 2017, the Andhra Pradesh government was reported to have canceled Rohith Vemula’s scheduled caste certificate, asserting that he was actually a member of the Other Backward Classes (OBC). The government contended that the SC certificate had been acquired through “fraudulent” means.
Conclusion
It is apparent that the opposition parties headed by the Congress have politicized the death of Rohith Vemula to fracture the nation along caste divisions, prioritizing their electoral advantage over the pursuit of justice or addressing discrimination faced by any community. His death spurred opposition political parties and liberals to raise concerns about caste discrimination only to craft a narrative that implicated the Modi government in the oppression of lower caste groups. This was in stark contrast to his suicide note, which expressed his discontent with the Students Federation of India (SFI).
“The PM gave a speech where he expressed grief and agony over the death of the scholar. People say he even had tears. I would ask him, if you are saddened, if your tears are real, then act against the VC who crushed and intimated that boy and sack him. The nation’s poor and Dalit are looking up at Modi seeking answers, will he take action,” Rahul Gandhi commented at the time.
Rahul Gandhi, along with several other opposition leaders, persisted in promoting the narrative that a “Dalit” student faced oppression and was forced into suicide, asserting that the truth was being suppressed. “They say Rohith Vemula committed suicide. I call it murder. He was murdered by the indignities he suffered. He was killed because he was a Dalit. Hitler, once wrote: Keep a firm grasp on reality, so you can strangle it at any time. This is what is happening today-strangulation of reality,” the parliamentarian remarked in 2017.
No one awaited the official report, as they were little interest in uncovering the truth and rather they opportunistically aimed to leverage the tragic incident for their own advantage. The opposition has been doing the same to this day. Rohith Vemula’s death was unscrupulously manipulated into a political issue dividing Dalits and Non-Dalits for the sake of votes. Their hope did not materialize, as the falsehoods were revealed by their own administration. Yet, the truth has never been a priority for Congress and other opposition parties who continue to push the same agenda for votes.
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