Memorandum to President

March 25, 2016

Following is the text of the memorandum that the CPI(M) General Secretary, Sitaram Yechury submitted  to the President of India, when he met him on March 25.

 

 

 

Hon’ble President of India

Rashtrapati Bhawan

New Delhi

 

Dear Rashtrapathiji,

 

I am writing this letter to you with a deep sense of anguish regarding the ongoing developments in the Hyderabad Central University.

 

The honourable President of India is the Visitor of this central university. There is an ongoing dispute with the newly appointed Vice Chancellor. The students, faculty and the entire university community has been agitating for redressing the circumstances which led to the tragic suicide of a bright research scholar, Rohith Vemula. After this suicide, the Vice Chancellor proceeded on long leave and he suddenly surfaced and took charge on March 22. His resumption of charge was accompanied by a brutal police action against the students and the university community about which I am sure you are aware.

 

The demand for the removal of this particular Vice Chancellor by the university community is being met with such a police action which has continued on March 23 as well. The water connection to the hostels, access to wifi, food supplies to the hostel mess – all have been discontinued. When the students themselves organised the cooking of food for the inmates they were once again attacked by the police and all those facilities destroyed.

 

The reason I am writing to you is because on the issue of removal of the Vice Chancellor, the HRD ministry has officially stated to the media the following:

 

“Regarding the demand for the removal of the VC the ministry has conveyed the same to the Visitor who is the appointing authority.”

 

Regarding the police action the ministry says that this is an

“issue of law and order (that) comes under the jurisdiction of the state government”.

 

This was conveyed to the entire media in the country by the HRD spokesperson Ghanshyam Goel (as reported in the Hindu web edition of March 24, 2016). Further, the news agency ANI  has also put out on social media and the electronic media the same explanation.

 

The honourable President of India, who is the visitor of the University has now been dragged into the controversy by the HRD ministry. Given this, I am approaching you to intervene in this situation to restore normalcy in this premier central university in our country. As of now some students are still in hospital with serious injuries. Twenty six students have been detained and are in judicial custody along with two members of the faculty. Thus a total of twenty eight persons are in jail.

 

Further, we are informed that the first decision taken by the Vice Chancellor upon his return was to defer the meeting of the Academic Council on Thursday (March 24), which was convened by the in-charge Vice Chancellor to discuss the setting up of an anti-discrimination committee on the campus, to ensure adequate representation of SCs and STs  on various committees of the university and to consider the proposal to increase the non-NET fellowship from Rs. 8,000 to Rs. 25,000 per month on parity with the Junior Research Fellowship in the country. The in-charge Vice Chancellor has reportedly pleaded that he had no knowledge  of the Vice Chancellor returning to assume charge of the university. 

 

Following the tragic suicide of Rohith Vemula there was a case registered against the Vice Chancellor for aiding and abetting this suicide. Instead of proceeding on this case this gruesome attack on the university community was mounted by the police.

 

Since the honourable President of India as the Visitor of the Hyderabad Central University has been dragged into this controversy by the HRD ministry, I am approaching you to please intervene and ensure that the HCU Vice Chancellor who took a blatantly anti-dalit stand violating all established norms of social inclusion in the university must be removed forthwith. The case registered against him with the police must be proceeded with and justice must be delivered to the university community and the country.

 

I would also urge upon you to please intervene to ensure that the Human Resources Development ministry is not allowed to be converted into the Hindu Rashtra Development ministry.

 

Sd/-

(Sitaram Yechury)

General Secretary, CPI(M)

Memorandum to President

August 7, 2009

Memorandum Submitted to Hon’ble President of India

September 9, 2008

Dear Respected Rashtrapathiji,

 We, the undersigned leaders of political parties represented in the Parliament, register our strong protest against the decision of the government to jettison the monsoon session of the Parliament. This, we consider, is a deliberate manipulation of established traditions concerning the sessions of Parliament since independence.

 For a variety of important reasons, such manipulation of Parliament sessions has serious implications. It violates the basic principle of governance established under our system. Central to India’s constitutional structure is that the sovereignty rests solely with the people. “We, the people” expresses itself in the executive’s accountability to the legislature, which, in turn, is accountable to the people. The absence of the Parliament session negates the legislature’s right and the executive’s obligation. This is a serious compromise with the concept of sovereignty as enshrined in the Constitution.

Further, this is happening when the executive’s accountability is required on a variety of events that are plaguing our country and the people. A series of reports have appeared suggesting that the assurances made by the Prime Minister to the Parliament and the country on the Indo-US nuclear deal have been violated. Worse, there are reports that suggest that crucial information was concealed regarding details of the deal. These are serious matters concerning the sovereignty and security of India and its independent foreign policy. The Parliament, therefore the people, are being deprived of their fundamental right to make the government accountable and answerable on these matters.

 There is this runaway inflation which the government has failed to control. Agrarian crisis remains acute continuing to claim lives of farmers through distress suicides.

 

Serious unrest disrupted peace and normalcy in the state of Jammu & Kashmir. As the state is under the President’s rule, the Parliament is the only forum where efforts to resolve could be made.

 

The river Kosi has changed its course after three centuries virtually wiping out large tracts of Bihar rendering millions homeless. The breach in its embankments is the apparent cause for this havoc, at the Kosi barrage in Nepal. India has a 199 year lease to maintain this barrage. The country would, surely, like to know what went wrong where for this ravage. The people are robbed of this right with the Parliament session not being convened.

In Orissa, innocent tribal Christians are being subjected to inhuman atrocities. The protection of the life and security of the tribals is the responsibility of the Central government as much as it is the right of the state governments to maintain law and order. Where else can these issues that affect will determine the future of our country and its people be discussed, except in the Parliament?

 It is only in the Parliament that the people, through their elected representatives, can exercise their sovereign right to make the government accountable and answerable on all these issues.

 We, the undersigned, therefore, appeal to you as the custodian of the Indian Constitution to intervene urgently to prevent such a subversion of our Constitutional scheme. We demand that the monsoon session of the Parliament be immediately convened. The winter session must, as is the practice, convene in the second half of November.

 We hope that in exercise of the authority vested in you by the Indian Constitution, you will discharge this important duty.

 With regards,

                                                Sd/-

Basudev Acharya                                       Sitaram Yechury

Leader, CPI(M), Lok Sabha                      Leader, CPI(M), Rajya Sabha

 

Rajesh Verma                                            Satish Chandra Misra

Leader, BSP, Lok Sabha                            Leader, BSP, Rajya Sabha

 

Gurudas Dasgupta                                    D. Raja

Leader, CPI, Lok Sabha                            Leader, CPI, Rajya Sabha

 

Yerran Naidu                                             Mysoora Reddy

Leader, TDP, Lok Sabha                           Leader, TDP, Rajya Sabha

 

Joachim Baxla                                           Debabrata Biswas

Leader, RSP, Lok Sabha                           Leader, AIFB, Rajya Sabha

 

Daanish Ali                                                          Abani Roy

General Secretary, Janata Dal (Secular)       Leader, RSP, Rajya Sabha