Students of the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) have organised a sit-in demonstration in front of the Vice-Chancellor's residence — because they want to get back to class. But they were not just sloganeering or making posters all the while. The students sat down to study while they protested. Unlike most student protests and the administration, the Chief Proctor and one of the Deans came down to talk to them.
They want the university to open its doors to its students in accordance with the UGC SoP. BHU has allowed only the final year PhD students to come back to campus. The protest entered its third day on December 7.
It's been almost a month since the UGC had come out with the guidelines for the students to gradually come back to campuses across the country. But the students claim that the BHU administration has only been conducting meetings to discuss the matter but there has been no action as of yet. "They just asked the fifth year PhD students to come back on campus, and without hostel facilities at that. We want them to open the university and allow the students come back while following all safety measures. We can have a hybrid system of classes where three days a week we attend physical classes and the other days we have online classes," said second-year PhD scholar and Secretary of the Bhagat Singh Chhatra Morcha (BCM), Anupam. BCM is an integral part of the current protests.
"At around 8 pm on December 6, the Chief Proctor came to speak to us. He said that we should vacate the road and continue our sit-in at the adjacent Madhuban. Police officers were also called but that did not scare us off. A meeting was held at the VC's residence later but there has been no fruitful conclusion or proper communication from the administration," added Anupam.
The students want the libraries to be open and the hostels to let them back in. "We have already paid the hostel fees but now we are being forced to stay off-campus and pay rent as the hostels are not open. I have had to spend approximately Rs 4000 each month in excess," said a student who wished to stay anonymous.