Hyderabad: Hyderabad Central University revoked its previous suspension of four Dalit students on Thursday after some faculty members of the institution quit their administrative positions as protests over the death of a student heightened.

The university’s executive council took a decision as protests over death of a research scholar resulted in a stand off between the institution and students.

“The Council, after taking into account the extraordinary situation prevailing in the university and after discussing the issue in detail, resolved to terminate the punishment imposed on the students concerned with immediate effect,” HCU said in a statement here.

Protesters however refused to call off their agitation and burnt copies of the EC decision.

The decision came a few hours after thirteen faculty members of an association of Scheduled Caste faculty members of the university quit their administrative positions.

The group also accused Irani of twisting facts when she stated the senior most Dalit professor headed the executive council sub-committee that suspended the students.

“Such a baseless and misleading statement coming from Honourable Minister of HRD amounts to bringing down the morale of the Dalits holding administrative positions in this university as well as other universities. …In response to the Honourable Minister’s fabricated statements, we the Dalit (SC/ST) faculty and officers will lay down our administrative positions,” the statement said.

It also came on a day when protesting students decided to enlist support of students from educational institutions across the country.
P Vijay Kumar, who was one of those suspended, said revocation was not enough.

“It is a good thing but Rohith is not here to celeberate. It should have been done when he was alive. The Vice Chancellor must go. The demand of Rhith’s family like compensation and job for a family member must be accepted,” he said.

A 26-year-old research scholar of the university, Rohith Vemula, was found hanging in his hostel room on Sunday.

He was among the five students suspended by the university for six months for allegedly being involved in assaulting Nandanam Susheel Kumar, , a leader of the right-wing student group Akhil Bharatiya Vidayarthi Parishad (ABVP), in August 2015. Last month, university restricted the students’ access classrooms and workshops on campus, which meant they could not go the university’s hostels.

Meanwhile, ABVP leader Nandanam Susheel Kumar, whose alleged assault led to the suspension of Rohith and four other students of the Ambedkar Students’ Association (ASA), said there should be a thorough investigation into Rohith’s death but denied having lied about the assault.

“Reasons for Rohit Vemula’s suicide should be thoroughly examined. What made a person like Rohith Vemula, who could confront so many people like us, into depression, that too when there was hearing by the High Court in two days’ time?” Kumar said.

“What were the faculty or the students around him doing? When a student got into depression, how could these people not identify? They give us lectures on how to identify a person in depression.”

“Why did these people send Rohit to some other person’s room without sending someone along with him? There are many issues in this. There should be a fair inquiry. And whoever is the culprit —me or anyone else — the culprit should be punished,” he said.

The university had claimed then there was a fight involving students of the ASA and Susheel Kumar of ABVP that eventually reached court.

The suspended students had formed Joint Action Committee and began to have sit-in protest at a makeshift tent on the university campus. Rohith was part of the protest until he died. His death triggered massive protests.

Protesters have been demanding resignations of Human Resource Minister Smriti Irani and Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya — who have been accused of pressuring the university for suspending the five students — dismissal of university vice-chancellor Appa Rao, Rs 5 crore for Rohith’s and a job for a family member as well as revoking the suspension.

In a news briefing on Wednesday, Irani accused rival political parties of making the controversy a “Dalit versus non-Dalit issue” to make political gains, The Tribune reported.

The university has seen a constant flow of political visitors since the controversy erupted: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was at the institution on Thursday, was the latest leader to have spoken to students.