I/II. http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/rohith-vemula-suicide-carl-sagan-ann-druyan-hyderabad/
Rohith Vemula’s suicide: This is what Carl Sagan’s wife had to say about his death Carl Sagan's wife Ann Druyan has reacted to Rohith Vemula's suicide. This is what she had to say. Rohith’s body was found hanging from a fan at the Hyderabad Central University on 17 January. (Express Photo by Tashi Tobgyal ) “I always wanted to be a writer. A writer of science, like Carl Sagan. I loved Science, Stars, Nature, but then I loved people without knowing that people have long since divorced from nature. Our feelings are second handed. Our love is constructed. Our beliefs colored. Our originality valid through artificial art. It has become truly difficult to love without getting hurt.” These were the last words of Rohith Vemula, the Dalit PhD scholar who committed suicide last month. His suicide note, where he refused to hold anyone responsible for his death, showed his immense love for science and an aspiration to be a writer, like cosmologist and astrophysicist Carl. Watch video: Delhi Police’s brutality on protesting students outside RSS head quarters With Rohith mentioning the astronomer in his suicide note, Rajeev Ramachandran, a journalist at MediaoneTV, thought of writing to Carl’s wife Ann Druyan seeking her response to the protests that are currently underway following Rohith’s suicide. He posted her response on his Facebook page. In her reply, she said: Dear Rajeev Ramachandran, Deeply grateful to you for writing to me about Rohit Vimula, whose death and lost promise I mourn. To read his suicide note and to learn the details of his predicament is to get a vivid inkling of the actual cost of bias to our civilization. If we could somehow quantify the totality of lost contributions and innovations as a result of prejudice, I believe we would find it staggering. You tell me, Rajeev: Is it possible that the attention paid to Rohit’s story will lessen its chronic repetition? I am trying to find something hopeful in an otherwise heartbreaking example of needless suffering and squandered potential. Truly, Ann Track the latest developments in the suicide case, and the on-going protests, here. II. http://scroll.in/article/802874/the-daily-fix-brutal-police-action-in-delhi-draws-nationwide-condemnation Protestors versus police The Delhi Police on Saturday beat up peaceful protesters outside the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh headquarters in Delhi. Consisting mostly of students, the group was protesting the over Rohith Vemula, a Dalit research scholar from Hyderabad University who had committed suicide last month. His death followed a chain of events that started with an altercation between his Ambedkar Students Association and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the students wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party and a component of the larger Sangh Parivar presided over by the RSS. The police action sparked outrage, as a video shot by one of the protestors made clear the brutality of assault. The video shows the police teaming up with men in civilian clothes to beat up protesters. Towards the end of the video, one policeman seems to assault a woman and slams her down to the ground by her hair. [Video] Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that the Delhi Police was being used as a “private army” by the BJP and RSS. Arvind Kejriwal ✔ @ArvindKejriwal Del pol being used by BJP/RSS as their pvt army to terrorize n teach lesson to anyone opposing BJP/RSS. I strongly condemn attck on students 2:59 PM - 1 Feb 2016 1,889 1,889 Retweets 1,469 1,469 likes Office of RG ✔ @OfficeOfRG Shocking attack on students. Instead of listening to them, now the Modi govt is brutally beating them up for protesting against the RSS! 5:53 PM - 1 Feb 2016 904 904 Retweets 799 799 likes The RSS denied that the men in plainclothes involved in the assault were from its organisation but backed the police on the assault. “Police must have done whatever they found was appropriate,” said Rajiv Tuli, in-charge of the RSS media unit in Delhi. In Mumbai, thousands of students on Monday marched through the heart of the city to protest the institutional bias that led to Rohith Vemula’s suicide. They demanded the removal and arrest of Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya, Human Resources Minister Smriti Irani, Hyderabad University Vice-Chancellor P Appa Rao and others involved with the suspension of Rohith. -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
