Under attack for the suicide of Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula, Hyderabad Central University(HCU) vice chancellor Appa Rao on Tuesday ruled out his resignation but said he grieved the the death of a "bright student."
Rao also sought to distance the HRD Ministry and the two ministers Smriti Irani and Bandaru Dattatreya from the decisions taken by the University which allegedly forced the student Rohit Vemula to take the extreme step.
"I am not going to consider such kind of demand," he said when asked whether he would consider quitting the post as demanded by students who are now being backed by Congress and other parties. Rao said the students have made the demand in a situation in which they feel they are aggrieved.
"Anything has to come through a proper method and has to go through an established process. Decisions are taken in a cool atmosphere. If an appropriate committee considers the whole issue and finds if I have done anything wrong then I can consider," he said.
Asked about the alleged intervention by the HRD ministry on the basis of a letter written by Dattatreya, the VC said it is a common practice for people's representatives to write routinely on common man's grievances.
"It is entirely university's decisions (relating to Rohit) and it has nothing to do with the HRD ministry," he said. The HRD ministry had sent five letters to varsity authorities asking what action was taken on Dattatreya's complaint that there were "anti-national" activities at the HCU.
Later, Rao appealed to students and faculty to work together to avoid "recurrence of such incidents." He also requested senior faculty members to discuss with students and understand their colleagues.
With PTI inputs.
Comments
0 comment