New Delhi, March 6: A vision Kanhaiya Kumar had had in jail while looking at his meal seems to be coming true on the ground.

The Rohith Vemula and JNU controversies have united competing Left and Dalit student organisations in many universities while spawning student bodies on some campuses that never had any before.

During his campus speech last week, the JNU student leader had recalled a thought that had struck him while being served a prison meal on a plate carrying two bowls. The bowls were red and blue - the colours of the Left and Dalit parties, respectively.

"While I do not believe in destiny, that I do not know God either, (I thought) something good is sure to happen soon in this country," he said.

"That plate seemed like India to me, the blue bowl seemed like the Ambedkarite movement to me and that red bowl seemed like the colour of... (revolution)."

Kanhaiya would be pleased that in JNU, Left-wing student organisations like the CPM-affiliated Students Federation of India, CPI-affiliated All India Students Federation and the CPIML Liberation's All India Students Association have joined forces with the principal Dalit group, Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students Association (Bapsa).

The unity is visible, with members of the one-time rivals taking part in each other's activities.

For example, All India Students Association and All India Students Federation members, who dominate the JNU students' union, took the lead in protesting discrimination against Dalits following Rohith's suicide.

Bapsa members later participated in huge numbers in the two rallies the students' union had organised against the police crackdown at JNU and the government's interference in universities' affairs.

"We still have ideological differences but have decided to join hands on common issues. It's not a permanent union," Manikanta, a Bapsa leader, said.

He said that Ambedkarite students' groups were more focused on Dalit causes while the Left groups viewed caste issues as part of a larger class struggle.

"We don't support their view, but the recent association is aimed at fighting the Right-wing forces, which are on a mission to destroy institutions," he said.

Manikanta added that Bapsa and the Left groups used to compete with one another in reaching out to students to try and swell their own ranks. Those activities are on hold for now.

The Rohith and JNU controversies have also galvanised students elsewhere. Students have formed groups to take up these causes at the Ambedkar University and the South Asian University in Delhi, which lack students' unions.

Ram Dayal Ahirwar, a South Asian University student, said a forum of Dalit students had recently been formed to support the Justice for Rohith movement and the JNU students.

He said Dalit students at most universities had become very active since social activist Prakash Ambedkar urged them to unite and fight institutional discrimination.

At Hyderabad Central University, students' groups including the Left-leaning ones have formed a joint action committee to spearhead the Justice for Rohith movement and press for changes to the laws governing central universities to address caste discrimination.

Dontha Prasanth, a friend of Rohith, said the joint committee had reached out to the students of most universities in Andhra and Telangana.

"We have also contacted students at IIT Madras and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai, where students are organising protests," he said.

Prasanth said that Rohith's mother, Radhika Vemula, was participating in all these agitations. She took part in a JNU students' rally in Delhi on Wednesday.

Students Federation of India president Prashant Mukherjee said the Rohith and JNU issues had been able to draw in students who are not associated with any ideology.

"We see hundreds of students who are not with any Right-wing or Left-wing organisation take part spontaneously in discussions and rallies," Mukherjee said.

"The reason is, they realise that the government is on the wrong side - it's trying to bulldoze institutions and crush dissent."

At Delhi University, the Youth for Social Justice, a Dalit organisation, is working in coordination with the Students Federation of India and the All India Students Association. They have together held two programmes.

Chaitanya, an Ambedkar University student, said the Dalit students had formed a group called Nouroz (new beginning), which is participating in all the protest programmes organised by the JNU students' union.