'Anti-Dalit' Govt. should sack Hyderabad University's VC: Congress

The Congress Party on Monday branded the BJP-led NDA Government as 'anti-Dalit' amid the ongoing uproar over the suicide by a Dalit scholar from the University of Hyderabad and demanded immediate removal of the varsity's Vice-Chancellor.

"We have seen the oppression of Dalits in various states like Haryana and Rajasthan. The Congress has expressed its concern over the systematic oppression of Dalits and backward classes in India. The anti-Dalit mindset of the government was revealed in the last Union Budget where Rs. 19,000 crore outlay was cut in the SC sub plan," Congress leader RPN Singh told the media here.

"The Vice Chancellor and the people involved need to be immediately removed. Also the minister, who has an FIR filed against him in this case, needs to be removed from the cabinet," Singh said.

Accusing the Centre of being controlled by the Rashtriya Sawayamsevak Sangh (RSS), he added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had never condemned or apologised for Mohan Bhagwat's remarks against reservation for the backward classes.

As per reports, the Cyberabad Police on Monday charged Union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya with abetting the suicide of a Dalit scholar, who hanged himself at a University of Hyderabad (UoH) hostel yesterday.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Police detained several students, who were protesting outside the Human Resource and Development (HRD) Ministry in the national capital to vent their ire over suicide of the Dalit scholar.

To bring the situation under control, the police personnel deployed on duty also used water cannons to control the agitating students.

One of the five dalit scholars, expelled from the University of Hyderabad 12 days ago, hanged himself to death last night.