Rohith Vemula's mother also claimed that the letter forwarded from HRD Ministry branded her son as 'anti-national' and 'extremist'.
Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula's mother on Friday claimed that the HRD Ministry had labelled her son as 'anti-national' and 'extremists'.
Addressing a press conference, Rohith's mother said, "Smriti Irani is lying and diverting issue, he never received the stipend for seven months. Letters that were forwarded from HRD Ministry indicated that students were branded as anti-national and extremists. I demand an explanation as to how my son became anti-national and extremist."
Speaking at the same conference, Rohith's friend demanded action against Smriti Irani for making 'false statements'.
Also read: 'My name is Smriti Irani, now tell my caste'
"We want to expose false words being propagated by minister Smriti Irani in Parliament. Why is no action being taken against Smriti Irani who is repeatedly giving false statements?" he asked.
He further said that Union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya branded his friend Rohith as an extremist and PM Modi did not take any action against the minister.
"PM Modi said India has lost her son. I want to ask him, if India has lost her son, same son was branded as anti-national, same son was branded as extremist by your Cabinet Minister Bandaru Dattatreya, what action has PM Modi taken against him?"
Rohith Vemula's mother and friend (Image Courtesy: ANI Twitter)
Rohith's friend said that Smriti Irani in Parliament had said that the Chief warden was part of the committee, however he never was. "She can go and check, he never was. Another lie," he says.
"Union Ministers Thawar Chand Gehlot and Smriti Irani claiming that Rohith Vemula is not a dalit. Let inquiry process come out. There is already a caste certificate which states that Rohith was a SC," he added.
Smriti Irani on Wednesday pointed out that according to a report submitted to the Telangana High Court, the police had reached Rohith's hospital at 7:20 pm when they found the body.
"The police said that when they reached the hostel, they found the room open and the dead body was on the table. A hand written suicide note was found. The suicide note that was left behind does not blame anyone," she said.
"This is not my submission. This is what the police said. No one allowed a doctor near this child, to revive this child. Instead, his body was used as a political tool. No police was allowed till 6:30 am the following morning. Who tried to help this child?" she asked.
However, Chief Medical Officer M. Rajshree, who confirmed Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula's death, has rebuffed HRD Minister Smriti Irani's claims in Parliament, saying she had reached the scene in three-five minutes. (Related read: Chief Medical Officer contradicts Smriti Irani's claims in Parliament)
"It was January 17, at around 7. 20 p.m to 7.30 p.m when I received a call NRS hostel telling that one students has attempted suicide please rush to the place, I reached the place within three to five minutes," Rajshree told ANI.
(With ANI inputs)
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