Thursday 25 February 2016

Did Smriti Irani make factual errors in her Lok Sabha speech?

Smriti Irani
Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani's 'rousing' speech in the Lok Sabha was high on rhetoric, and has gone viral. Her name has been trending on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter since yesterday's speech.
Her 48-minute speech, intense, full of dramatic expressions, is being lauded by millions, but did she get carried away and make a factual error?
Or was it a truth she conveniently twisted and tried to hide under her fiery speech?
Speaking about Hyderabad Central University PhD scholar Rohith Vemula's suicide, Irani said no doctor was allowed near Rohith's body to try and revive him, and instead, his body was used as a political tool. To quote her, "This is what the police said. No one allowed a doctor near this child, to revive this child. Instead, his body was used as a political tool." She based her argument on a report submitted by the Telangana Police.
However, the on-duty medical examiner of the Hyderabad University refuted the claim made by Smriti Irani that no doctor was allowed to examine the body of PhD scholar Rohith Vemula after he was found hanging in his room.
"His body was cold, stiff and rigid. I knew he was dead, but I did my duty. There was no pulse," Chief Medical Officer Dr Rajashree said.
Smriti Irani's statement has created an uproar on social media among people who are fighting for Rohith Vemula and against the caste discrimination he faced. A Facebook post made by Zikrullah Nisha, calling Smriti Irani a liar, tells a different story from what Irani said. And here's why we should consider it true.
This statement has created an uproar on social media among people who are fighting for Rohith Vemula and against the caste discrimination he faced. A Facebook post made by Zikrullah Nisha, calling Smriti Irani a liar, tells a different story from what Irani said. And here's why we should consider it true.

Zikrullah was the person who called the health center right when he got to know about Vemula's suicide on January 17.
Rohith was found dead between 6.30 and 7 pm in room number 207 of the New Research Scholars Hostel in the Hyderabad University campus.

Here's what his post said:

"Liar..Liar..
I was the person who called health center immediately after learning that Rohith Hanged in NRS hostel.
Within 5 minutes CMO Health center Dr. Rajashree P has reached the spot and she checked the pulses and declared him dead. There were Telangana police also present there.
Today MHRD minister lied to entire nation that no doctor and police were allowed to check the dead body till 6:30 AM of next day.(sic)"

Photo: Screengrab from Facebook


This post by Zikrullah has got over 2,000 shares. The News Minute has reported about this discrepancy and even produced an image of the health book of Hyderabad university in which Dr Rajshree has made an entry after inspecting Rohith's body. The entry says, "Body...cold, bloody abdomen, protruding tongue, froth coming out of the mouth." The entry also says that the pupils were dilated, that there was "no heart sound" and no sounds of breathing."

Photo: Twitter@NirmalS94654991


Smriti Irani went on to say "No police was allowed till 6:30 am the following morning. Who tried to help this child? The ones who passed judgement are not the ones appointed by the BJP-led NDA but by the Congress party."
Major boo-boo ma'am?

A Facebook page by the name Rants of India has shared a video showing Police examining Rohith's body and quotes Zikrullah's post talking about the same.

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