Noted Hindi poet and critic Ashok Vajpeyi on Tuesday decided to return the Doctor of Letters degree awarded to him by the Hyderabad University as an act of protest against the circumstances that led to the suicide of PhD scholar Rohith Vemula. Vajpey told India Today that the university's "anti-Dalit attitude" was the reason behind the 25-year-old scholar committing suicide.

The former Lalit Kala Akademi chairman said the institution has "acted against human dignity and knowledge". Vajpeyi was one the first among dozens of artists who returned their Sahitya Akademi awards last year to protest against the rise of intolerance in the country.

Vemula was found hanging in the university's hostel room on Sunday. He was among the five scholars who were suspended by the university in August last year. Union labour minister Bandaru Dattatreya and Hyderabad University vice chancellor were named in the FIR over the death of the scholar.