Institutionalising the memory of Senthil's death

It is most unfortunate that Univ of Hyd has only been keen on washing its hands of the responsibility of the death of Senthil. Soon after his death, University withheld the post mortem report, which said it was a suicide. The VC ignored Ambedkar Students’ Association’s demand that an immediate relief of Rs 7 lakh be given to the grieved family. He also rejected the SC/ST joint action committee’s demand for an enquiry by a sitting judge. And finally when the report of the committee set up by the University indicated that the prevailing academic conditions at the School of Physics would have led to the death of Senthil, the VC came up with a press statement that Senthil’s death has nothing to do with caste discrimination, and that no action would be taken against anyone in this matter. Though the committee actually absolves the School of Physics of caste discrimination, its report clearly says that many ‘discrepancies and ambiguities’ had crept into the assessment of students in the Department of Physics since 2006, and that Dalit students, in particular, were victims of these discrepancies which in turn led them to believe that the department was ‘casteist.’

Tuesday, April 15, 2008




Palanisamy and Deivayanai, Senthil's parents

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Dear All,

Senthil's untimely death and its impact on the rest of us will not be a moment in time but a process of change, a positive change that we ourselves direct.
Hope this initiative leads to the formation of an online proactive forum for Dalit students. By creating a space for us to talk, listen and share experience's and find ways of preventing similar such tragedies.

Regards
anu

Sarath Davala said...

can i request some of senthil's friends or close associates participate in this discussion and say what they know about circumstances leading to what can now be concluded as his suicide?

Unbroken Silences: said...

Yes, that is welcome. Let this be a forum for discussion and sharing of views and experiences