‘Rohith Vemula, Nithin Raj: how many more?’ Premkumar calls for justice, wants perpetrators exposed

Actor and former Chairman of the Kerala Chalachitra Academy, Premkumar, has called for those responsible for the death of Nithin Raj, a student at Kannur Dental College in Anjarakandy, to be brought to justice. He remarked that it is a profound tragedy of our times that minds filled with the "maggots of casteism" still thrive in "God’s Own Country."

He demanded that the “killers” receive maximum punishment and that they be exposed before the public. He emphasised that those who shamed Kerala before the world must be seen by all Keralites. Premkumar asserted that Nithin Raj's death is not an isolated incident but a pattern and an institutionalised murder. "Nithin Raj’s death is not a suicide; it is an institutional murder," he wrote on social media, expressing hope that even if Nithin did not get justice in life, his family should receive it now.

Full text of Premkumar’s post

Nithin Raj's death is not a suicide — it is an institutional murder...

Today, the yardsticks of religion, caste, race, and colour are being openly sharpened by some to insult, humiliate, and mentally and physically break fellow human beings. Caste, religion, lineage, colour, appearance, and financial status are all being used as weapons of destruction. Those who inflict such cruel insults and discrimination, as well as their victims, exist in all sectors of society.

While we pride ourselves on being a civilised society, we are becoming symbols of a dark era. Rohith Vemula, Nithin Raj... so many names. So many helpless lives. While those who perish by suicide or murder out of humiliation and a sense of inferiority become news, the survivors sink into oblivion as living martyrs. Systems that hesitate to stop such atrocities... a society drowned in silence... cultural leaders, classmates, colleagues, organisations... all this in a land that boasts of high literacy and culture—the cradle of the Renaissance.

In "God’s Own Country," where we constantly chant maxims like "One Caste, One Religion, One God" and "Without distinction of caste or religious hatred," it is a supreme tragedy that minds festering with casteist thoughts still run riot.

Reports are now emerging that apart from certain individuals masquerading as teachers—who shamed the entire teaching community by ruthlessly insulting and harassing Nithin Raj, a helpless and poor student—there was also a money-laundering "Loan App" gang involved. The elites and those in power will desperately try to subvert public perception with alternative narratives; the "Loan App episode" serves that exact purpose. Everything must be investigated thoroughly. All truths must come out. Everyone responsible for this death must be brought before the law immediately. May the justice Nithin Raj was denied at least reach his family, who waited for him with all their hopes, dreaming of his return as a brilliant doctor.

Along with ensuring maximum punishment for the killers, those responsible should be brought before the public. Let all of Kerala see those who made the state bow its head in shame before the world. We have built our cultural consciousness within a shell of hypocrisy. Many of the social advancements we boast of today move forward wearing masks of deceit. The leaps of the Renaissance we achieved over the ages are now gasping for breath. The lines from Rohith Vemula’s final note always wound us:

‘My birth is my fatal accident’

When a child is forced to say their birth is a tragedy, and when caste and colour are the reasons for it, what scale can measure the mental agony they endured? While society, schools, and systems offer dreams and hope to some, they offer only insult and humiliation to others.

Nithin Raj’s death is not an isolated incident. It is a pattern. A part of a system. Nithin Raj’s death is not a suicide; it is an institutional murder. Rohith Vemula and Nithin Raj are all asking us: How many more? How many dreams? How many families' hopes?

The unburnt pages of caste and systems that Ambedkar tried to put on fire still remain. The unextinguished embers of casteism and racism still burn.

We can no longer afford to ignore this. We can no longer remain silent. All discrimination must end. All inequalities must be eradicated. Humanity must prevail here. We must stand as humans. Becoming human is what matters. Becoming human is everything.