26, Jan 2016

• 26 Jan 2016
• Hindustan Times (Mumbai)
• HT Correspondent [email protected]
MUMBAI: Charges- of atrocity and rioting have been invoked by the Dharavi police against those allegedly involved in disrupting a rally organised on Sunday to condemn the death of Dalit PhD scholar Rohith Vemula.
The complainant Ramesh Jaiswar, 38, alleged t he accused are Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( RSS) workers.
The RSS, however, claimed the rally participants assaulted a sevak.
According to Jaiswar’s complaint, the rally was about to end when 15 to 16 people allegedly began assaulting participants, which included several Dalits and students.
He claimed some of t he attackers were from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) as well. The RSS has refuted the allegations.
The incident came a day after ABVP’s Matunga office was ransacked by a group of men on Saturday.
The rally was organised by The Nationalist Forum, a joint-action committee comprising of various students’ and activists’ associations fighting for justice for Vemula.
“We were raising slogans demanding arrests of those responsible for Vermula’s death when suddenly RSS and ABVP activists started to insult our caste and beat us with sticks,” said Jaiswar, a software engineer, in his complaint to the police.