‘V-C should act like a teacher when dealing with students’
LUCKNOW: The recent violence at the University of Lucknow (LU) could have easily been averted if the university administration had heard the demands of the students who sat on protest, said Prof Roop Rekha Verma, former vice-chancellor (acting) of LU, at a press conference here on Saturday.
Verma supported the students’ peaceful protest against the university administration’s alleged denial of admission to students for waving black flags at chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s fleet, last year.
“The university administration should have approached the students who were protesting and cleared their doubts regarding admissions,” she said.
Two days after the protest began, some miscreants attacked teachers and staffers on the campus, leading the varsity to announce a shut down for an indefinite period.
“We condemn any kind of violence inside the university. Police and authorities must identify the people involved in the attack and take punitive action against them,” she said.
However, she added that the students’ demands “must not be overlooked in the name of maintaining law and order after the incident”.
Acting on the university’s complaint, the police have arrested three people in connection with the incident. Police officials have also suspended the in-charge of the police outpost at the university and transferred the circle officer of the area.
To recall, the police administration was pulled up by a Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court in connection with the violence on LU campus on July 4.
Verma said that instead of trying to “control students”, the administration should try to provide students an environment in which they could flourish. “The vice-chancellor, because he himself is a teacher, should have acted more like a teacher than an administrator while dealing with issues of students,” she said.
Verma was accompanied by Vandana Mishra from the People Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), former LU students, writer Virendra Yadav and retired LU professor Ramesh Dixit.
The group also commented on the “changing student-teacher equation” at LU. “In an effort to wield total control on students, the university administration has restricted their activities, which has led to differences between the students and the district administration,” said Dixit. “The Lucknow University administration must realise this and make amends,” he added.
VERMA SAID STUDENTS’ DEMANDS MUST NOT BE OVERLOOKED IN THE NAME OF MAINTAINING LAW AND ORDER AFTER THE JULY 4 INCIDENT