"Hurt" and "depressed" for being blamed for Dalit student V Rohith's suicide, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) member Susheel Kumar who was allegedly attacked by him and others, sought an enquiry into the death.
Breaking his silence on the suicide, Susheel said that pointing fingers at him was nothing but a political game. "This is a game by outside politicians and students of the university who are acting at the behest of political leaders. Conduct a fair probe, I'm ready to face any sort of legal action if I'm found guilty," he said adding that any such tactics will not put him in pressure.
Recalling what happened on the night when he was allegedly attacked by the activists of Ambedkar Student Association, he said, "That day, the debate was not about capital punishment to Yakub Memon, they held a namaaz for him. There were posters that were displayed that though one Yakub has been killed, every house will have many such Yakubs (Ek Yakub maara gaya par ab hum ghar mein Yakub honge). These are disturbing statements. We had planned to protest against these in front of the administration building. In the meantime, I called them goons."
"There were several instances where many people were beaten up by members of this organisation. Just because they are from a group which is named after Ambedkar, doesn't make them all Ambedkars.
"Later in the night, at around 12:30-1 am, over 30-40 members came to my room due to my post on Facebook. They asked me why I called them goons. I said that even they called ABVP members fascist and saffron terrorists on several occasions and there was no big deal about it. If I have criticised them on Facebook, they can do the same, they do not need to come to my room."
"I was made to come out of the room and nearly 30-40 people thrashed me. They wanted me to apologise for whatever I said and wanted me to delete the post on Facebook where I criticised them for protesting against the hanging of Yakub Memon. However, I refused and said that I can apologise for calling them goons but refused to delete the post over their support on Yakub's hanging."
"They wanted me to post my apology letter on the walls of the campus in the middle of the night. When I told them that I cannot take photocopies in the middle of the night, they said that I should upload a picture of the apology letter on Facebook and later paste it on walls. They took me to the university security room and took a picture of the same and made me upload it from my Facebook account. Soon after they left, I deactivated my Facebook account as I did not want my character to be demoralised seeing that apology letter."
"I was bruised and injured but I could not go to the university hospital as students were gathered there to attack me again. The chief medical officer said that if any incident happens, it needs to be reported and it was not reported. I had to be hospitalised where I endured the pain for two-three days and later had to be operated for appendicitis which the doctors said was due to the injuries that I suffered in the abdomen after being beaten up."
"Two days after I was released, a letter was issued by Tathagata Sengupta, secretary of the teachers' association, saying that no incident had taken place and all what I said was a drama. As a faculty, who is he to say such things? What if I would have felt depressed and I would have committed suicide. I was attacked, my freedom of speech was curbed and these people did not raise any issue then."
"Even when my mother went to meet the Vice Chancellor, she was abused by the students there. When she does not have any security in the VC cabin, what say will I have in the administration."
"It was then that I approached the BJP MP and told him that such things had happened and then he wrote a letter to the HRD Ministry. The HRD Ministry forwarded the letter to the university and the only punishment that was taken was that they were suspended from the hostel, which was not too harsh Such punishments had been taken several times against ABVP leaders too."
Claiming that he knew Rohith since long, Susheel said that he did not seem to be a person who would commit suicide. "I know Rohith since 2010-2011. We have always had good debates, discussions on Facebook and everywhere. We used to have ideological fights but apart from them, we never had anything personal against each other. I want a fair enquiry to be done into his suicide, I know he is not one of those who would commit suicide. People should get to know what were the reasons of his depression that led him to take such a drastic step. Let the culprit, be it anyone, be punished," he said.
"That he committed suicide because of me is a propaganda by the university people or the politicians. I was highly depressed after hearing about his suicide. I could not even step out of my room for three days just thinking that I am being blamed for his death," he said.
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