<div><div>A day after his appointment, the Hyderabad Central University's interim Vice-Chancellor today faced calls to step down from students and a section of faculty over his alleged involvement in a 2008 suicide amid raging protests over the death of Dalit scholar Rohit Vemula.<br /><br /></div><div>The Joint Action Committee (JAC) for Social Justice, spearheading the agitation over the alleged suicide of Rohit, and the SC/ST Faculty Forum rejected the appointment of Vipin Srivastava as in-charge Vice-Chancellor of the university.<br /><br /></div><div>"It is to bring to your notice again that in 2008, Vipin Srivastava was the main accused in yet another institutional murder of Senthil Kumar, a Dalit research scholar in the Department of Physics," the JAC said.<br /><br /></div><div>Alleging that Srivastava was implicated in the alleged suicide of a Dalit student in 2008 and also related to Rohit's death, the Forum said his functioning as in-charge VC is "legally untenable" and demanded that he step down.<br /><br /></div><div>"In the light of your such moral, ethical and legal involvement, we demand that you step down from the Vice- Chancellor's office immediately in the larger interest of University of Hyderabad (also called Hyderabad Central University)," the Forum said.<br /><br /></div><div>Soon after his appointment, Srivastava had said the matter related to the 2008 suicide case "has been sorted out".<br /><br /></div><div>Facing students' protest over Rohit's suicide last week, Vice-Chancellor Appa Rao Podile yesterday proceeded on leave for an indefinite period, saying he was "advised to be little away from campus" to break the current "impasse".<br /><br /></div><div>In the absence of Podile, Srivastava, the senior most Professor, shall perform the duties of the Vice-Chancellor with effect from January 24, the HCU has said.<br /><br /></div><div>The JAC also claimed that faculty members are resigning from three administrative functions in protest.<br /><br /></div><div>The JAC demanded that Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani be sacked from her post and a "Rohit Act" be enacted to give legislative protection for students belonging to marginalised community in higher education institutions.<br /><br /></div><div>The JAC warned it will call for a bandh in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh if the demands are not met.<br /><br /></div><div>Meanwhile, protests escalated today at the varsity with several students from other universities and some social groups coming out in support of HCU students agitating over the death of Rohit. <br /><br /></div></div>
<div><div>A day after his appointment, the Hyderabad Central University's interim Vice-Chancellor today faced calls to step down from students and a section of faculty over his alleged involvement in a 2008 suicide amid raging protests over the death of Dalit scholar Rohit Vemula.<br /><br /></div><div>The Joint Action Committee (JAC) for Social Justice, spearheading the agitation over the alleged suicide of Rohit, and the SC/ST Faculty Forum rejected the appointment of Vipin Srivastava as in-charge Vice-Chancellor of the university.<br /><br /></div><div>"It is to bring to your notice again that in 2008, Vipin Srivastava was the main accused in yet another institutional murder of Senthil Kumar, a Dalit research scholar in the Department of Physics," the JAC said.<br /><br /></div><div>Alleging that Srivastava was implicated in the alleged suicide of a Dalit student in 2008 and also related to Rohit's death, the Forum said his functioning as in-charge VC is "legally untenable" and demanded that he step down.<br /><br /></div><div>"In the light of your such moral, ethical and legal involvement, we demand that you step down from the Vice- Chancellor's office immediately in the larger interest of University of Hyderabad (also called Hyderabad Central University)," the Forum said.<br /><br /></div><div>Soon after his appointment, Srivastava had said the matter related to the 2008 suicide case "has been sorted out".<br /><br /></div><div>Facing students' protest over Rohit's suicide last week, Vice-Chancellor Appa Rao Podile yesterday proceeded on leave for an indefinite period, saying he was "advised to be little away from campus" to break the current "impasse".<br /><br /></div><div>In the absence of Podile, Srivastava, the senior most Professor, shall perform the duties of the Vice-Chancellor with effect from January 24, the HCU has said.<br /><br /></div><div>The JAC also claimed that faculty members are resigning from three administrative functions in protest.<br /><br /></div><div>The JAC demanded that Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani be sacked from her post and a "Rohit Act" be enacted to give legislative protection for students belonging to marginalised community in higher education institutions.<br /><br /></div><div>The JAC warned it will call for a bandh in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh if the demands are not met.<br /><br /></div><div>Meanwhile, protests escalated today at the varsity with several students from other universities and some social groups coming out in support of HCU students agitating over the death of Rohit. <br /><br /></div></div>