In his letter, Gandhi described an experience of Dr BR Ambedkar to highlight the existence of caste-based discrimination.
Published Apr 21, 2025 | 2:05 PM ⚊ Updated Apr 21, 2025 | 2:05 PM
Revanth Reddy with Rahul Gandhi. (X)
Synopsis: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi urged Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to enact the Rohith Vemula Act, one of the promises made by the Congress in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The act is aimed at protecting and safeguarding the right to education of the marginalised.
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has urged Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to enact the Rohith Vemula Act, one of the promises made by the Congress in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Earlier, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had announced that the state would implement the act soon.
The Congress passed a resolution at its 2023 plenary, promising to enact a special Act named after Rohith Vemula, a 26-year-old University of Hyderabad scholar, who had died by suicide on 17 January 2016 over alleged caste discrimination.
The Act, the resolution said, would aim at protecting and safeguarding the right to education of Dalits, tribespeople, Other Backward Classes, and minorities.
Gandhi, in his letter to Revanth Reddy dated 17 April, said the “murder” of young people was not acceptable.
“The murder of bright young people like Rohith Vemula, Payal Tadvi, and Darshan Solanki is simply not acceptable. It is time to put a firm end to this. I urge the Telangana government to enact the Rohith Vemula Act so that no child of India has to face what Dr BR Ambedkar, Rohith Vemula, and millions of others have had to endure,” the letter said.
Payal Salim Tadvi, a second-year resident doctor at BYL Nair Hospital, died by suicide on 22 May 2019, allegedly after she had been harassed by three of her seniors. The 26-year-old doctor from the Muslim Tadvi Bhil tribe in Maharashtra was pursuing her Master’s in Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
Darshan Solanki was an 18-year-old student of IIT-Bombay when he died by suicide on 12 February 2023. He had earlier told his family of the caste discrimination he had been facing at the institute, after his friends came to know that he hailed from a scheduled caste community.
In his letter, Gandhi described an experience of Dr BR Ambedkar to highlight the existence of caste-based discrimination.
