During the debate on the incidents at UoH and Osmania University, Home Minister of Telangana Nayani Narasimha Reddy clarified that Rohit Vemula was a Vaddera caste person and not a Dalit. This means that Rohit Vemula was a BC.
But intervening in the debate, Congress MLA Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka took objection to the Home Minister denying the contention of Rohit Vemula’s mother that her son was indeed a Dalit.
Speaking on the issue later, KCR said it did not matter whether Rohit Vemula was a Dalit or a BC. But his suicide and the incidents that followed were quite painful.
KCR is right in what he said. At the same time, the whole thing would not have become a national issue but for the fact that Rohit Vemula was thought to be a Dalit.
Had the likes of Rahul Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal and Mayawati known from the beginning that Rohit was not a Dalit; they would have hardly bothered with the issue.
The same is the case with the media. It was just another game of TRP’s and brownie points for the media and the politicians thanks to the tag of ‘DALIT’ affixed to the whole episode.