PUNE: “If they try to inflict violence upon us, we will not flinch to retaliate with an eye for an eye,” said Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) youth leader Sujat Ambedkar.

He was speaking in Pune at a demonstration on the occasion of Rohith Vemula Shahadat Diwas organised by the Ambedkarites Students Association (ASA) on Friday.

Vemula, who was a PhD student at the University of Hyderabad and a member of ASA, committed suicide on January 17, 2016, after his fellowship was suspended for ‘raising issues under the banner of ASA’.

Remembering him against the backdrop of the students protests in the country presently, Ambedkar said, “The whole country is burning against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). It must be noted that those who are in the forefront of these protests are our students. This has been possible because of several students like Vemula who have fought against the injustice. Let us pledge today that we will not be oppressed.”

He added, “We have gathered here for Vemula. However, after Vemula, so many students like Najib, Payal Tadvi, Fatima have given their lives for the cause. How many more Dalit, Bahujan, Muslim students will die? We will not tolerate any kind of atrocities on the students anymore.”

Students from several institutions such as Fergusson College, Modern College, Ganeshkhind Road, Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) had gathered at Rani Laxmibai Chowk at JM Road.

“We will not let Rohith Vemula’s sacrifice go in vain. We will fight for justice for Vemula and others like him,” ASA’s Pankaj Sathe said.

He added, “The educational institutes need to think about the poor students as well as the well-off ones. Vemula fought and died for bringing equality on educational, social and political levels. The ASA has been organising these demonstrations for the past three years, so that we always remember the cause for which Vemula sacrificed himself.”