University arms employees with bamboo sticks in Bihar

Registrar, a former soldier, took decision after attack on senior official

In the wake of an attack by students on a senior official, a university in India’s Bihar state has armed all its employees with well-oiled bamboo sticks to deal with troublemakers.

Bhupendra Narayan Mandal University (BNMU) located in Bihar’s Madhepura town, some 290 kilometres north of Patna, purchased 60 bamboo sticks and handed them over to employees on Thursday.

The move came after some student leaders scuffled with the university’s pro vicechancellor Farooque Ali, alleging lack of transparency in recruitment of staff. It was apparently in an effort to deal with the growing unrest on the campus that the university registrar Neeraj Kumar, a retired army colonel, decided to arm all staff with bamboo sticks for self defence.

The university administration is currently holding interviews to recruit computer operators and drivers on contract basis, but the student unions allege transparency is not being maintained in the hiring process.

The issue eventually led to the alleged scuffle between the pro vice-chancellor and student leaders on Tuesday, prompting the university administration to register a case against 25 students.

But the idea of arming staff with bamboo sticks has only infuriated the students who have vowed to reply in similar fashion.

“We are living in a democratic country, and not in a state ruled by military. We won’t tolerate such orders,” said student leader Sonu Yadav.