Modi and RSS trying to crush India's spirit: Rahul Gandhi at University of Hyderabad

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi today joined the student protesters at University of Hyderabad to express solidarity with them following suicide of a Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula in Hyderabad.

For more than 12 hours, Rahul Gandhi sat with students and the family members of Rohith Vemula who are on hunger strike, demanding justice.

He also participated in a candlelight vigil after midnight and spent the night on the campus. He remained seated along with the students at the protest venue near Shopping Complex to mark the birth anniversary of Rohith Vemula, who committed suicide two weeks ago.

He was seated with four Dalit students who were suspended along with Rohith and also Rohith's mother and brother.

Dozens of other students are also on a day-long hunger strike to press the demand for the resignation of Vice Chancellor Appa Rao and action against him and others responsible for the suicide.

"I am here today at the request of Rohith's friends and family, to stand with them in their fight for justice," tweeted Rahul Gandhi, who visited the campus for the second time in less than a week.

"A young life full of dreams and aspirations was cut short," he tweeted. While paying tributes to Mahatma Gandhi on his death anniversary, Gandhi commented 'we owe it to him, to the memory of Gandhiji and to every single Indian student who dreams of an India free from prejudice and injustice."

funfacts: It is a very interesting day as it is not just Rohith's birthday but also Mahatma Gandhi's death anniversary.

Nobody has the right to take away the right to 'search for the truth' and this is exactly what happened with Gandhi ji and now Rohith.Every single student must realise that most powerful thing they have is not what some powerful people tell you but what you believe in.When you let what has happened to Rohith happen in the country, it will happen to you one day, no matter who you are. You will one day find that the very same people who crushed Rohith will be blocking your path to freedom, to progress. My main opposition to Mr. Modi and RSS is that they are trying to the crush spirit of Indian youngsters by imposing one idea. Please put your idea in the market place of ideas & then if students' accept that idea, I am fine with it.

Activist and Professor Kancha Ilaiah offers juice to Rahul Gandhi to end his strike pic.twitter.com/zwAyCczio7

ANI (@ANI_news) January 30, 2016Rahul had visited the campus on January 19, two days after Rohith committed suicide.



Police beefed up security on the campus in view of the call given by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) to protest Rahul's visit. The student group has called for a shutdown of educational institutions across Telangana to protest what it calls the attempts of the Congress leader to play politics over the suicide.

About 50 ABVP workers were arrested shortly after midnight when they tried to stop Rahul's convoy at the university's main gate.

The university remained shut since the student committed suicide with Joint Action Committee (JAC) for social justice continuing their protest.
Interim Vice Chancellor Vipin Srivastava, who had claimed on Thursday that normalcy will be restored soon, proceeded on leave.

The university announced the next seniormost professor, A M. Periasamy, will perform the duties of the vice chancellor of the university till further orders.

Srivastava had taken over as incharge VC only a week ago after Vice Chancellor P. Appa Rao proceeded on indefinite leave in the wake of students' demand for his resignation.

The students' groups are demanding arrest of vice chancellor, central minister Bandaru Dattatreya and two ABVP leaders booked on January 18.