Rohith Vemula was a PhD student at the University of Hyderabad and an activist of the Ambedkar Students’ Association. His suicide in 2016 had created quite the stir in the student and political sections of the society. Widespread protests had been organised in his name throughout the nation and the central government had been dragged in this matter and much hoopla had been created in the matter of this suicide. It was politicised and used by the opposition as a tool to show atrocities against the Dalits being committed under the rule of BJP and PM Modi. The airs over these were cleared by the District Level Scrutiny Committee in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, which was reviewing the Dalit status of Rohith Vemula, submitted its final report to the government stating that neither Rohith nor his mother Radhika was Dalit. The suicide of Rohith Vemula however did not dissuade the shrewd political parties from using his family members as tools for promotions in election rallies. Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) is a state party from Kerala which has a strong organizational structure in Tamil Nadu as well. Rohith’s mother accused IUML of using Rohith and her and not giving the promised 20 lakhs which she was promised.
In an article published on The News Minute Rohith’s mother Radhika Vemula has been quoted as saying, “When Rohith died, I was just crying in the velivada and I had no idea about all the people coming and greeting me. At this time, these party members came from Kerala and said that they heard the news and heard that we were absolutely poor”. She went on to add, “Within one month, they took us to Kerala and made us participate in a big meeting with around 30,000 to 40,000 people and promised that they would sanction Rs 20 lakh and construct a house for us”. She added that the IUML had gained a significant political strength in Kerala because they used the name of her son and also she was the main guest in several meetings organised by the party. She recalled an incident when she was enroute to attend an event in Kerala when she got news of her family member delivering a baby, she was dissuaded from returning home by the promise of a cheque worth Rs 15 lakhs by the party leaders. She said, “I thought about returning back, but they insisted that the event had been organised and claimed that they even had a cheque worth Rs 15 lakh was ready on the table and they would hand it over to me. Even though they had been promising this for two years, I was still hopeful and I went,”
These incidents highlight two things, the first is that the political parties have used Radhika Vemula and her deceased son’s name to gain relevance in the political sphere. The more important here is that how families of the victims are misguided and lured by fake promises to speak out against the government to create a propaganda. Radhika Vemula in all her statements never once stated that she had felt any solidarity with the motives of the party, she was in it only for the money. Is it justified for a mother to barter the goodwill earned by her son’s death for promise of money and a house? She is afterall not a known politician or a social worker, her claim to fame had been Rohith’s suicide, a nasty incident used in an even nastier way.
Her outrage though has cleared the airs around the modus operandi of these left leaning parties which portray themselves as the saviours of minorities. Every Indian citizen should thank her for venting out against IUML for it has cleared up that the whole political drama which was created to get political mileage and raise unnecessary unrest in the country. A tight slap on the face of pseudo-liberals and their modus operandi has been given by Radhika Vemula who had no shame in accepting her desperation and ensuing greed in the interview, well it is better late than never.