JOIN USAs the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarti Parishad (ABVP) and Dalit associations fight over Rohith Vemula’s caste, the Andhra Pradesh Police and Revenue officials on Wednesday began enquiring into the matter.
DySP Nagabhushan Rao, CI Subba Rao and revenue official Phaneedra Babu interacted with Rohith’s paternal grandparents in Gurajala, Guntur district, and sought details about his parents, his school and also the caste he belonged to. Rohith’s caste credentials became an issue of serious debate following a press conference by ABVP leaders where they released the caste certificate of Rohith’s brother Raja Chaitanya Kumar.
The certificate mentions Kumar’s caste as Vaddera (stone crusher community), which comes under the Backward Caste (BC) category. The ABVP stated that Rohith claimed to be a Dalit, while he actually belonged to the BC category. The issue further got entangled in confusion with some of Rohith’s family members revealing that his mother Radhika is a BC and her estranged husband was a SC (Mala).
The revenue officials are of the opinion that the progeny can opt for the caste of either of the parent, and there is nothing wrong in Rohith claiming his father’s lineage.
The ASA released Rohith’s caste certificate of 1989 which was submitted by him at the time of admission into the university. “Rohith got admission in open category, he was a meritorious student. ABVP is trying to malign his memory by,” said Ramji, ASA president.