Fresh trouble at Hyderabad varsity, 70 students arrested
Controller of exam resigns in solidarity with protesting students
hyderabad — Fresh trouble broke in an already beleaguered University of Hyderabad (UoH) campus on Wednesday following the arrest of over 70 students who clashed with the police during protests demanding removal of the ViceChancellor P. Appa Rao over the suicide of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula.
The agitating students tried to break the police barricades and enter the vice-chancellor’s lodge where a meeting of the university’s Academic Council was to be held to discuss various confidencebuilding measures including the appointment of an ombudsman, an anti-discrimination officer and an Equal Opportunity Cell.
The fresh bout of violence came close on the heels of the release of the national rankings of Indian Universities in which the UoH bagged fourth position. The agitating students have been demanding dismissal and prosecution of Appa Rao, holding him responsible for the suicide of Rohith in January last.
As the situation turned violent, the police took away at least 70 students after they broke open the campus gates and raced towards the meeting venue breaching the heavy security and barricades.
“Appa Rao has turned the university into a prison. We will not rest till he is sacked,” a student protester said.
The Joint Action Committee of students demanded that the vice- > Protests both on and outside the campus rocked university. > Activists of SFI, PDSU and AIDSO demonstrate in front of the main gate. >Clashes broke out on the campus as students marched towards VC Lodge. >The JAC has given a call for voluntary boycott of classes. chancellor be kept out of the process to select an ombudsman since he came under cloud over the Dalit student’s suicide.
The campus has been on the boil ever since Rohith (26) ended his life on January 17 by hanging himself from a ceiling fan in the hostel room. Though he did not name anyone in the suicide note, the students have been alleging that caste discrimination had forced him to take the extreme step. Rohith, along with four other Dalit students, was suspended following their scuffle with a leader of ABMVP, the student wing of the BJP.
On March 22, the protesters vandalised the VC’s office when he resumed his duties after a monthlong leave. Following the incident, 25 students and two faculty members were arrested, leading to escalation of unrest.
In another key development, the Controller of Examination Professor V. Krishna, expressing solidarity with the protesting students, resigned from the post and walked out of the academic council meeting.
Key incidents