Radhika Vemula is an Indian activist for

Dalit Dalit ( from meaning "broken/scattered") is a term used for untouchables and outcasts, who represented the lowest stratum of the castes in the Indian subcontinent. They are also called Harijans. Dalits were excluded from the fourfold var ...

rights and against caste based discrimination. She continues the work started by her son,

Rohith Vemula Rohith Chakravarthi Vemula (30 January 1989 – 17 January 2016) was an Indian PhD scholar at the University of Hyderabad. His death by suicide on 17 January 2016 drew attention to the systemic discrimination imposed by the caste social hierarc ...

(leader of

Ambedkar Students' Association Ambedkar Students' Association (ASA) is a student organisation in India representing students from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST), Other Backward Class (OBC), religious minorities and other oppressed communities. ASA works for ...

), who committed suicide in the

University of Hyderabad The University of Hyderabad (UoH) is a prestigious public central research university located in Gachibowli, Hyderabad, Telangana, India. Established in 1974, this mostly residential campus has more than 5,000 students and 400 faculty, from ...

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. 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.

Family

Radhika Vemula mothered three children, her older son Rohith(30/01/1989 to 17/01/2016),a younger son Raja, and her daughter Nileema.

Conversion to Buddhism

On 14 April 2016, on the 125th

Ambedkar Jayanti Ambedkar Jayanti, also known as Bhim Jayanti, is observed on 14 April to commemorate the memory of B. R. Ambedkar, Indian politician and social reformer. It marks Ambedkar's birthday who was born on 14 April 1891. His birthday is also referre ...

, Radhika Vemula, and her son Raja converted to

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

Prakash Ambedkar Prakash Yashwant Ambedkar (born 10 May 1954), popularly known as Balasaheb Ambedkar, is an Indian politician, writer and lawyer. He is the president of political party called Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi, Vanchit Bahujan Agadi. He is a three-time M ...

, grandson of

Babasaheb Ambedkar Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (Bhīmrāo Rāmjī Āmbēḍkar; 14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956) was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and political leader who chaired the committee that drafted the Constitution of India based on t ...

, initiated the conversion of Rohith's family to Buddhism at Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Bhavan in

Dadar Dadar (Help:IPA/Marathi, ̪aːd̪əɾ is a densely populated residential and shopping neighbourhood in Mumbai. It is also a prominent railway and bus service hub with local and national connectivity. It is Mumbai's first planned area and i ...

, Mumbai.

References

Living people Indian women's rights activists Navayana Buddhists 21st-century Indian Buddhists Converts to Buddhism from Hinduism Year of birth missing (living people) Dalit women Dalit rights activists {{India-activist-stub Activists from Andhra Pradesh