Dalit Professors Vs Smriti Irani Over Hyderabad Suicide: 10 Developments

The professors accused Ms Irani of making "fabricated statements" and said she had "misrepresented facts" when she said that a panel which decided on punishment for Rohith and four other Dalit students, included Dalit faculty.

"It is unfortunate that since its inception, no Dalit representation has been given in the executive council of the Hyderabad University," they said, and accused the minister of trying to "mislead the country," and "deflecting the issue to absolve her of responsibility."

Rohith, 26, hanged himself on Sunday, days after he and four other Dalit students were suspended by the university for allegedly beating up an activist of the BJP's student wing. Their access to the hostel and cafeteria was barred, though they were allowed in classes and the library.

There have been massive student protests in Hyderabad and in other cities over Rohith's death. The protesters and opposition parties allege that the five Dalit students were subjected to caste discrimination.

They also allege that Ms Irani's ministry pushed for the students to be punished by sending five reminders to the university's Vice Chancellor after another union minister Bandaru Dattatreya wrote to the Education Ministry demanding action against them.

Ms Irani said at a press conference yesterday that Rohith Vemula's suicide is being misrepresented with "malicious intent" as "a Dalit vs non-Dalit confrontation."

She also denied that her ministry pushed for the students to be punished, describing the letters that her ministry sent to the university in quick succession as standard procedure for complaints filed by parliamentarians.

At the Hyderabad University campus, students slept in the open on Wednesday night, saying they feared that the police would try to evict them in the middle of the night.  

After Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and Trinamool Congress' Derek O Brien visited the campus to meet the student protesters, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal of the Aam Aadmi Party will visit today.

The opposition parties have joined student protesters in blaming Mr Dattatreya and Ms Irani for Rohith's suicide and have demanded that the ministers be sacked.