Rohith Vemula: A Life Sacrificed In Vain

R.I.P. Rohith Vemula!

Saddened as I no doubt am by your untimely, unfortunate demise, I am perplexed at how a brave-heart like you could pusillanimously bid adieu to life. It is regrettable that those wielding influence over you and your thoughts could not impress upon you that life is all about "hope" and "courage"..."hope" of a better tomorrow gives us "courage" to face today's challenges. And, you were hoodwinked into loosing both!

Clearly, your young, fragile, impressionable mind was slowly, but surely poisoned by dangerous and degenerate folks, who flocked around and sowed in you the seeds of hatred, negativity and bitterness. It is tragic that you struggled and sacrificed your life to serve the hidden political agenda of a divisive, devious group that cared neither for you nor your goals, dreams and aspirations. You were only a pawn, a puppet in their manipulative hands...hands that have laid to waste a life that should have been full of youthful energy, ebullience and exuberance; not emptiness and exhaustion!

Equally saddened am I by your views on the tenets espoused by the great Swami Vivekananda.

By expressing your anger and disenchantment with the Swami, you have not only proved your gullibility, but also shown the width, depth and severity of your hatred. If indeed the great monk was a casteist, then so too was Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of our Nation and Apostle of Peace & Non-violence, who has been quoted as saying:

1. I believe that caste has saved Hinduism from disintegration.
2. I believe that if Hindu society has been able to stand, it is because it is founded on the caste system.
3. I believe in the varna system.
4. The beauty of the caste system is that it does not base itself upon distinctions of wealth-possessions.
5. I do not believe the caste system...to be an "odious and vicious" dogma.

Then again, by that same yardstick (of taking statements out of context, that you used to condemn unfairly the revered saint), some may conclude Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, our Founding Father and my hero, was anti-reservation. How? By misappropriating Babasaheb's remarks on the import of equality to argue that affirmative action ushers in inequality in society. Here are some of the great man's quotes on (in)equality:

1. Justice has always evoked ideas of equality.
2. Equity signifies equality. Rules and regulations, right and righteousness are concerned with equality in value.
3. If all men are equal, then all men are of the same essence, and the common essence entitles them of the same fundamental rights.
4. Lost rights are never regained by appeals to the conscience of the usurpers, but by relentless struggle...Goats are used for sacrificial offerings and not lions. 

If only wiser, saner counsel had prevailed over you, perhaps you would have realised that text is to  not interpreted outside of its context. Besides, you would have delved deeper into the saint's ideas, beliefs and thoughts and found that he "united", not "divided" people of our nation. And, that he deserves our respect and reverence, not disdain! You would surely have been in our midst had you been a little more discerning in your judgment of greatness.

Sleep eternally in everlasting peace in the Lord's Lap, Rohith!

Hope you find in your heavenly abode the peace, solace and tranquility that eluded you during the last few days of your tormented corporeal existence.