Rohith Vemula’s mother, Radhika Vemula, was seen caressing and kissing her son’s statue as tears rolled down her face on the 10th anniversary of his death.
The visuals, shared widely on social media, show a grieving mother touching her son’s face and forehead, a decade after his suicide sparked a national debate on caste discrimination in Indian universities.
Rohith Vemula was a 26-year-old PhD scholar at the University of Hyderabad who took his own life in January 2016. His death triggered protests across the country, with students, activists, and academics demanding accountability and an end to caste-based exclusion in higher education.
Supporters of Vemula have long maintained that he faced institutional discrimination. He and four other students were suspended from their hostel and campus spaces following a clash with members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, or ABVP. The allegation against them was later cleared, but the suspension and social isolation remained a central part of the controversy surrounding his death.
In his suicide note, Vemula wrote about deep loneliness and the feeling that his life had been reduced to an identity rather than recognised for its humanity or intellect. The letter continues to be cited by student groups as a stark account of how marginalisation operates within academic spaces.
Over the years, Vemula has come to be seen by many as a symbol of resistance against caste discrimination and a voice for Dalit rights in universities.
More recently, a Telangana Police closure report stated that Vemula’s suicide was driven by fears related to the disclosure of his caste status and claimed that he did not belong to the Dalit community. His family strongly rejected the findings, calling them false and an attempt to deny the lived realities of caste discrimination.
Ten years on, the questions raised by Rohith Vemula’s death continue to resonate, as debates around caste, access, and dignity in education remain unresolved.
