Cong rubbing salt instead of soothing wounds in Dalit scholar's suicide: BJP

Attacking the Congress for politicising the suicide of a Dalit scholar from the University of Hyderabad, Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Tuesday accused the grand old party of aggravating the already tense situation.

"Rahul Gandhi and the Congress thing they can simply condemn everything. They are rubbing salt instead of soothing the wounds in the matter and I vehemently condemn that," Naqvi told ANI.

He also defended Minister of State for Labour and Employment Bandaru Dattatreya, who has been charged with abetting the suicide of the Dalit scholar in Hyderabad, saying that he has always been 'compassionate' towards dalits.

"Bandaru Dattatreya is a person who has been fighting all his life for the rights of Dalits and backwards and he is compassionate towards them. Making allegations against such a person is simply playing negative politics and he should not be targeted," Naqvi told ANI.

Minister of State for Labour Bandaru Dattatreya has been charged with abetting the suicide of the Dalit scholar. He has also been booked under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act following allegations that he orchestrated the suspension of Rohith Vermula and four other Dalit students from the University hostel.

The police has also registered a case for abetment of suicide against University of Hyderabad Vice Chancellor Appa Rao and two ABVP leaders Sushil Kumar and Vishnu.

The Centre has formed a two-member probe committee as the incident triggered protests in Hyderabad and the national capital yesterday.

Rohith, a second-year research scholar from the Science, Technology and Society Studies Department, and others were suspended from the hostel last year following allegations that they attacked Sushil Kumar after a screening of the controversial documentary 'Muzaffarnagar Baaqi Hai'.

Earlier this month, the five students were thrown out of the hostel amid allegations they were denied access to campus facilities, except their classrooms and respective workshops, on recommendation by an executive committee of the university.

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The 28-year-old hailing from Andhra Pradesh's Guntur district was found hanging at a friend's hostel room around 7: 30 p.m. on Sunday.