Suicide or not, implement committee recomendations, say scholars and activists about J Muthukrishnan death

A few Dalit faculty members of DU, JNU, Jamia along with Dalit writers and activists on Wednesday demanded implementation of the Sukhadeo Thorat committee's recommendation against caste-based discrimination at educational institutions, reported The New Indian Express.

The Sukhadeo Thorat Committee, constituted to enquire into the alleged harassment of students from the scheduled castes and tribes in the All India Institute of Medical Sciences

The demand came against the backdrop of the death of the MPhil student of JNU, J Muthukrishnan who was found hanging at a friend's residence earlier this week.
Rubbishing the claim that since there is no suicide note in Krishnan's case it can't be a case of caste discrimination, professor Hemlata Mahishwar of Jamia said, "He didn't have a penny for food a week ago and a student gave him two dosas he asked for the third. He was so hungry. This is the situation of our Dalit students and this is what they face in educational institutions. Prior to Rohith Vemula, were there any suicide notes? Does that mean there has been no discrimination?"

This is a political issue as discrimination itself is a part of a fascist and 'brahminical' political agenda. We need to stage a political struggle against such discrimination. We need to question the non-implementation of the Thorat committee recommendations
Annie Raja, National Federation of Indian Women

Bal Gangadhar Bagi, research Scholar, JNU said, "The position in which we found the body with the leg touching the floor, this can't be suicide. After Vemula, Krishanan's death is a message of the kind of discrimination happening in JNU."
The committee constituted under the chairmanship of Sukhadeo Thorat had made strong recommendations to uplift the status of minority students and teachers. The committee had tabled its report in 2011. Thorat committee was the first ever committee constituted to study caste discrimination in higher education sector.