Editorial Team 
This is a compilation of BSP Leader Mayawati’s intervention regarding Rohith Vemula’s death in the Parliament on 24th February 2016 as reported by various news websites. The live updates of the parliament proceedings are compiled from reports of the Indian Express (IE) and Zee News. Other details are taken from other news reports including Hindustan Times, Times of India, the Press Trust of India etc. All sources are listed at the end of the post under courtesy.
The parliament proceedings were disrupted twice as Mayawati demanded a discussion on the issue, and BSP members chanted “Dalit virodhi yeh sarkar nahi chalegi, nahi chalegi (anti-Dalit government will not be tolerated)”, “BJP-RSS murdabad, murdabad (down with BJP-RSS)”.
A time-line of Mayawati’s intervention in the parliament.
11.10 : BSP supremo Mayawati raised the suicide of Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula in Rajya Sabha, attacking the RSS and the BJP government and refused to stop speaking, despite deputy Rajya Sabha chairman PJ Kurien asking her to end her statement and bring up the issue during the discussion at 2 pm.
11:14: ‘Dalit virodhi ye sarkaar’ and other such slogans are being raised against the government in Rajya Sabha.
11: 15 : ‘Ambedkar Virodhi yeh Sarkar’, ‘Dalit Virodhi Yeh Sarkar’ – Opposition MPs from the BSP stormed the Well of Rajya Sabha chanting anti-government slogans and demanding that the treasury benches respond to her question, but did not commit to having an immediate discussion. Both, the government and the Congress, have agreed to have a discussion immediately, with BJP MP Naqvi saying the government was ready to provide ‘appropriate answers’.
11.37: Rajya Sabha has once again been adjourned – till 12 pm – after the BSP refused to give in and allow the discussion to be held, demanding that the government first respond to its query on whether there will be a Dalit individual in the inquiry committee. Kurien said he was forced to adjourn the House as he was not in a position to force the government to respond to a member’s query.
14:00 : As Rajya Sabha reconvened at 2 pm, BJP MP and Union Minister Smriti Irani and BSP supremo Mayawati clashed over the suicide of Rohith Vemula with Irani charging the BSP of using the death of the student as a political tool. Mayawati shot back demanding that Irani be sacked for what she termed as ‘her role’ in Vemula’s suicide.
14:27: Mayawati says she wants the reply from the government first as the latter is trying to overshadow the Rohith Vemula issue by clubbing a debate on it with the JNU issue.
14:30: Rajya Sabha proceedings resume; Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien tells Mayawati that her demand for a reply from government over Rohith Vemula suicide issue before the debate is held cannot be accepted.
14:35 : Mayawati says her party wants the JNU and Rohith Vemula issues to be taken up separately for debates.
14:40: Kurien tells Mayawati to give separate notice for short-duration discussion on Rohith Vemula issue. Mayawati says she wants reply from the government on whether a Dalit will be part of the judicial committee set up to probe Rohith Vemula’s suicide at Hyderabad Central University.
14:40 : Mayawati insists that the government answer whether a Dalit member will be part of the committee or not. She also said that it would be better if the House take up the discussion on Thursday in two parts – one on JNU and the other on the Hyderabad university suicide.
14:45 : With the proceedings going nowhere, Naqvi asked the chair to at least take up a bill for discussion and passing but Mayawati was quick to counter him saying nothing will happen till she gets her answer.
14:50 : Smriti Irani has intervened questioning what the logic behind Mayawati’s question was. “My only question to the senior members of this House is, are we going to let the caste of a judge decide whether he can deliver justice?” Mayawati counters: “Their intentions are not clean. The Prime Minister’s intentions are not clean.”
14:53 Mayawati says the government’s refusal to categorically say whether a Dalit member will be part of the judicial panel on Rohith Vemula suicide shows even the PM does not want the late Dalit scholar to get justice.
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Elsewhere, the IE and Business Standard reports the heated exchange between Smriti Irani and Mayawati in the parliament, thus:
“Mayawati ji, I request, you are a senior member and a woman, you want an answer, I am ready to reply. If you are not satisfied with my answer, I will cut my head and put it in your feet,” the minister said. In response, Mayawati asked if a Dalit member will be there in the judicial committee.
Hindustan Times also reports that that “Without taking names, she demanded that two Union ministers linked with interfering with the affairs of the Hyderabad University should resign and the VC of the University be sacked. She also demanded the inclusion of a Dalit member in the judicial committee probing into the issue.” The same information is mentioned in India TV News and the Times off India too.
These reports also mention her saying that “Since the time the BJP came to power at the Centre, nefarious means are being used to impose RSS ideology,” she said, adding that prestigious institutions like Hyderabad University, Aligarh Muslim University, Jamia Milia and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) were being interfered with. Suicide by Rohith is not the first case and many Dalit students have committed suicide in the past including when Congress-led UPA was in power at the Centre”
The Press Trust of India writes that “During heated exchanges over the issue in the Rajya Sabha, Mayawati wondered why Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi could not give a reply on behalf of the government on whether they will include a Dalit in the judicial committee probing the suicide by the Dalit student of Hyderabad University.” The same report mentions that when Sitaram Yechury said that the treasury benches cannot say anything without permission from the Prime Minister, Mayawati quipped that the government was “waiting for a signal from Nagpur”, where the RSS headquarters is located. Also, they write that Mayawati when JD-U leader K C Tyagi was making an intervention, Mayawati accused him of playing into the hands of the BJP to take the focus away from a serious issue.
(The report of live parliament proceedings filed by Zee News and Indian Express have slight differences in content and occasionally, time-stamps. For instance, see overlaps and differences between 14:27 and 14:40. The 12-hour time-format used by IE has been changed to the 24-hour format used by Zee News for uniformity.)
Courtesy:
Reports of
- Hindustan Times: http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/mayawati-forces-rajya-sabha-adjournment-twice-over-vemula-suicide/story-kkTfyQQEE9myks3g0Ji9yN.html
- Zee News: http://zeenews.india.com/live-updates/budget-session-of-parliament-debate-on-jnu-row-rohith-vemula-suicide-in-rajya-sabha-1858647
- Indian Express:
- Business Standard: http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/angry-exchanges-between-smriti-mayawati-over-rohith-vemula-issue-116022400558_1.html
- Times of India: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/In-Parliament-Smriti-Irani-faces-off-with-Mayawati/articleshow/51123515.cms
- India TV News: http://www.indiatvnews.com/politics/national/rohith-vemula-death-mayawati-smriti-irani-lock-horn-rajya-sabha-35216.html
- Press Trust of India: http://www.india.com/news/india/mayawati-sitaram-yechury-take-pot-shots-at-government-977276/
