The National Students Union of India (NSUI) will today stage a protest outside Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Smriti Irani’s residence for telling lies in Parliament over the death of Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula.
Advertisement
However, Chief Medical Officer M. Rajshree, who confirmed Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula’s death, has rebuffed HRD Minister Smriti Irani’s claims in Parliament, saying she had reached the scene in three-five minutes.
The Congress leaders questioned Irani’s statement in Lok Sabha that when Telengana police reached the Hyderabad university hostel, they found the room open and the body of Vemula on the table.
Yechury also took on Irani for quoting certain Facebook posts purportedly by Vemula which were critical of him.
Irani, however, defended her action and said she read out the portion from a pamphlet as she was asked by some Elders to furnish proof to back her statement.
Prashant said Irani must be punished for misleading the nation and giving a false statement in Parliament which is “an offence” under the Constitution. She further said that the wrong statements without any observation sends wrong signal.
“Irani said the Council members were all appointed by the UPA”.
Rohith Vemula’s caste has been questioned by ministers including Irani and Bandaru Dattreya ever since the matter first began.
Rohith’s mother and friends have demanded the removal of Irani and Dattatreya from the cabinet.
It urged her not turn this into a fight against students “who have nothing to rely upon, no power – political or social, no connections, no money, not even a home”.
Congress spokesman Manish Tewari said Irani was “too clever by half and then you get caught in your own web and that’s exactly what has happened to the HRD Minister”. “And not one of them was from the SC or ST community”. Coming to his colleague’s defence, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi attacked Congress and other opposition parties saying it had become a pattern for them to seek a Short Duration Discussion, a couple of Calling Attention Motions and an apology in every session while showing no interest in legislative business.
Advertisement
However, Mayawati was not satisfied and again accused the government of being “anti-Dalits”. “Although I could not point the exact time of death, I told the police that he had died at least two hours before I saw the body”, she said.
