Raising questions on Rohith Vemula’s dalit status, a commission constituted by HRD ministry after the Hyderabad university scholar’s death has said the material on record did not establish it and attributed his suicide to personal reasons. The Justice Roopanwal Commission, in its report to the HRD ministry, has given a clean chit to Union Ministers Smriti Irani and Bandaru Dattatreya, sources said. The Commission is learnt to have raised questions about Vemula’s caste status as a dalit saying that there is no proof that his mother V. Radhika belonged to Mala community. The Commission in its report noted that Vemula’s mother was not told the names of her biological parents by her foster family, according to the sources. HRD ministry officials have, however, maintained that ascertaining the caste status of Vemula was not part of the Terms of Reference of the Commission.

Source: The Hindu October 06, 2016 08:37 UTC