Accusing the opposition parties of giving a Dalit and non-Dalit colour to the Rohith Vemula suicide case, BJP's student wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) today sought "strict rules" in universities to stop "anti-national" activities by sections of students.
"Strict rules need to be imposed in the universities to stop anti-national activities that some sections of students are indulging in," ABVP national secretary Shrihari Borikar said in a press conference here.
"In Hyderabad Central University (where Rohith was pursuing PhD), the Leftists, under the banner of Ambedkar Students' Association (ASA), had held protests against the hanging of Yakub Memon, convicted for his role in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts," he said.
"They (ASA members) were carrying inflammatory posters that read 'now there would be a Yakub in every house'. But when this was objected to by ABVP leader Susheel, he was beaten up by a 40-member ASA mob. As a disciplinary action, the varsity suspended five members, including Vemula," Borikar said.
Rohith, whose body was found hanging in a hostel room in Hyderabad Central University last Sunday, was among the five research scholars who were suspended by the university in August last year and also one of the accused in the case of alleged assault on ABVP leader Nandanam Susheel Kumar.
"In his suicide note, Vemula did not mention this punishment or persecution by college authorities and said he was ending life for personal reasons," the ABVP office-bearer claimed.
"Yet, all non-BJP parties joined hands to blame the Centre for Vemula's death. These parties have given a political colour and Dalit, non-Dalit twist to the episode, just to demand resignation of Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani and Hyderabad MP Bandaru Dattatreya," Borikar added.
The scholar student's suicide is a tragic incident, he said, "but politicians are trying to exploit this situation to vitiate the atmosphere."
The ABVP leader also sought a judicial probe into the case, even as the Union Government today decided to set up a judicial commission to investigate Rohith's suicide.
