Radhika Vemula | |
---|---|
Born | Andhra Pradesh, India |
Occupation | Activist |
Children | Rohith, Raja, and Nileema |
Radhika Vemula is an Indian activist for Dalit rights and against caste based discrimination. [1] [2] [3] [4]
She continues the work started by her son, Rohith Vemula (leader of Ambedkar Students' Association), who committed suicide in the University of Hyderabad in 2016 - an incident which sparked outrage across India and gained widespread media attention as a case of Dalit discrimination in Indian universities. During the protest at the University of Hyderabad, police had arrested Radhika Vemula and other students on the first death anniversary of her son. She is seeking to end caste discrimination in universities and other higher education institutions. [5] [6] However, the District Level Scrutiny Committee in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, which was reviewing the Dalit status of Rohith Vemula, submitted its final report to the government stating that neither Rohith nor his mother Radhika were Dalits. [7]
Radhika Vemula mothered three children, her older son Rohith(30/01/1989 to 17/01/2016),a younger son Raja, and her daughter Nileema. [1]
On 14 April 2016, on the 125th Ambedkar Jayanti, Radhika Vemula, and her son Raja converted to Buddhism in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Prakash Ambedkar, grandson of Babasaheb Ambedkar, initiated the conversion of Rohith's family to Buddhism at Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Bhavan in Dadar, Mumbai. [8] [9]
Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and political leader who headed the committee drafting the Constitution of India from the Constituent Assembly debates, served as Law and Justice minister in the first cabinet of Jawaharlal Nehru, and inspired the Dalit Buddhist movement after renouncing Hinduism.
Dalit is a term first coined by the Indian social reformer Jyotirao Phule for untouchables and outcasts, who represented the lowest stratum of the castes in the Indian subcontinent. Dalits were excluded from the fourfold varna of the caste hierarchy and were seen as forming a fifth varna, also known by the name of Panchama. Several scholars have drawn parallels between Dalits and the Burakumin of Japan, the Baekjeong of Korea and the peasant class of the medieval European feudal system.
Caste-related violence in India has occurred and continues to occur in various forms.
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Prakash Yashwant Ambedkar, popularly known as Balasaheb Ambedkar, is an Indian politician, writer and lawyer. He is the president of political party called Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi. He is a three-time Member of Parliament (MP). He was a member of the 12th and 13th Lok Sabha of India and twice represented the Lok Sabha constituency of Akola, Maharashtra. He has served in both houses of the Indian Parliament.
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The Unbearable Being of Lightness is a 45-minute documentary film made in 2016 and directed by Ramchandra PN. The documentary documents a workshop that the filmmaker had conducted for a group of students at the University of Hyderabad, immediately after the student protests on the issue of the suicide of Rohith Vemula had ended at the university.
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Sanghapali Aruna, also known as Sanghapali Aruna Lohitakshi, is a human rights activist from India, best known for her work on Dalit women's rights. She is the Executive Director of Project Mukti.
The Payal Tadvi or Payal Salim Tadvi suicide case is an ongoing criminal case in the Maharashtra state of India. Payal allegedly committed suicide on May 22, 2019, after facing harassment by three of her seniors at Topiwala National Medical College and BYL Nair Hospital. A case has since been brought against three of her former colleagues due to claims of harassment relating to Payal's caste status.
Baudhacharya Shanti Swaroop Baudh was an Indian writer, Buddhist scholar, painter, publisher and Pali language expert. He was an Ambedkarite-Buddhist activist. He was born in 1949 at Old Delhi in a Jatav Dalit family. In 1975, he set up Samyak Prakashan, a publishing house dedicated to Ambedkarite, Navayana Buddhist, Pali literature and Dalit literature. Samyak Prakashan has published over 2000 books many of which have been translated into some 14 different languages including English, Sinhalese, Nepalese, Burmese. He was a board of editors member of Dhamma Darpan and Dalit Dastak magazines. He was Delhi state president of Buddhist Society of India.
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