Vice chancellor, minister crushed the voice of students: Rahul Gandhi

Hyderabad: The vice-chancellor has no right to remain in the university… He, along with the union minister, has crushed the voice of the students, alleged Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi while addressing a massive gathering at the University of Hyderabad campus on Tuesday afternoon.
Upholding the demand of agitating students, Gandhi insisted that the family of Rohith Vemula – the dalit scholar who committed suicide on Sunday – be “compensated” while the “people responsible for Rohith’s death be subjected to strict punishment”.
“The VC not just created a condition for the boy to commit suicide but also did not have the minimum decency to meet the family after his death. This is an insult to Rohith’s mother, to the institution and to the country,” the Congress leader lamented, while maintaining that there was “no question of politicizing the matter”. “I am here for Rohith…I am here not as a politician but as a young man,” he added.
Earlier Rahul Gandhi met the deceased’s mother, Radhika Vemula at the tent – labelled as the ‘Dalit Ghetto’ by protesters -- where she has been camping since Rohith’s death along with other expelled dalit students.
“The idea of an university is that of a place where young people, irrespective of whether they are interesting or not interesting, smart or not smart, can come and express their ideas without the fear of punishment,” Gandhi said while speaking to the crowd later. He added: “The idea of a university is knowledge. If you impose only one idea on everybody it is not fair to their passion. This case, the VC, minister and other people have done just that. They have crushed their voice and not let students speak.” Rohith, therefore, the leader claimed “had no option but to kill himself”.
Reiterating the gravity of the situation and the need for compensating the family, Gandhi also demanded that a new “law/legislation be created that will give minimum rights to every Indian student” and not let the central government impose its ideas on them.
“Let me assure you that my door is always open to Rohith’s family and every other student here. I will be available any time you need my service,” he said before making his way out of the university that’s currently on the boil.