New Delhi: Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi has written a letter to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah urging the state government to enact a law called Rohith Vemula Act to ensure that no one faces caste-based discrimination in the education system. In his letter to the Karnataka CM, the Congress MP highlighted the discrimination BR Ambedkar faced during his lifetime.
Referring to an incident of BR Ambedkar, Rahul Gandhi reiterated an incident of BR Ambedkar and said, “We had a lot of food. We had hunger burning inside us, with all this we had to sleep without food, this was because we could not get water and we could not get water because we were untouchables.”
“He tells us about his experience at school,” Rahul Gandhi said, quoting Ambedkar. “I knew that I was an untouchable and that untouchables had to suffer certain indignities and discriminations. For instance, I knew that in school I could not sit among my classmates according to my rank but had to sit alone in a corner.”
The Congress leader said Siddaramaiah would agree that what Ambedkar suffered was shameful and no child in India should have to endure this. “It is a matter of shame that even today lakhs of students from Dalit, Adivasi and OBC communities have to face such brutal discrimination in our education system,” Rahul Gandhi said.
He said, “The killing of talented youngsters like Rohith Vemula, Payal Tadvi and Darshan Solanki is absolutely unacceptable. It is time to put an end to this completely. I urge the Karnataka government to enact the Rohith Vemula Act so that no child in India has to suffer what Dr BR Ambedkar, Rohith Vemula and millions of others have suffered.”
In 2016, Dalit student Rohith Vemula committed suicide due to caste-based discrimination. Sharing the letter written on X, Rahul Gandhi said, “Recently, I met students and teachers from Dalit, tribal and OBC communities in Parliament. During the conversation, they told me how they face caste-based discrimination in colleges and universities.”
He said that Ambedkar had shown that education is the only means by which even the underprivileged can become empowered and break the caste system. But it is very unfortunate that even after decades, millions of students are facing caste discrimination in our education system.
He said, “This discrimination has taken the lives of promising students like Rohith Vemula, Payal Tadvi and Darshan Solanki. Such horrific incidents cannot be tolerated at any cost. Now the time has come to put a complete stop to this injustice.”
Rahul Gandhi said, “I have written a letter to Siddaramaiah requesting that the Rohith Vemula Act be implemented in Karnataka. No child in India should face the kind of casteism that Babasaheb Ambedkar, Rohith Vemula and crores of people have faced.”
