The Maulana Azad National Urdu University in Hyderabad informed its students that the Student Union elections of the varsity for the current academic year, which were cancelled amidst student protests, would be conducted as and when the campus “returns to normalcy”.
This agreement was made between the students and the administration of the varsity today, September 23, after a round of talks following the protests on September 19 and 20 on the campus.
Further, the administration issued a notice to the students yesterday, September 22, warning them of strict consequences if they indulged in any activity that disrupts the peace and normalcy on campus.
To recall, the administration cancelled Student Union elections for the current academic year on Friday, September 20, in light of the protests.
Students of the varsity were protesting against the alleged poor quality food served in the hostel mess and demanded the resignation of the boys’ hostel’s provost. When the provost resigned, the students also demanded the resignation of the girls’ hostel provost and the varsity’s Proctor along with a written apology from the latter.
According to Talha Mannan, a PhD scholar and presidential candidate in the now-cancelled Student Union elections, the administration had constituted a committee comprised of senior teachers to look into the students’ concerns and events of the protest, which had its first meeting today.
“No concrete resolution came out, but the committee will look into the matter,” he said.
He also informed that the committee will talk to all stakeholders involved in the protests and the events that led to it, and reach a conclusion eventually.
Confirming this, Dr Ishtiaqe Ahmed, the Registrar of the varsity told EdexLive that the committee was formed on the day the protest broke out.
“The committee was formed to look into the allegations of the students against the provost and was supposed to begin its inquiry the next day. However, pressure from the students compelled it to begin the inquiry on the same day,” he said, adding that the members of the committee had to be called back to the campus to start its inquiry.
Further, the committee members set up office at the protest site instead of a conference room, following the students’ demands, Prof Ishtiaqe said.
He added that the student gheraoed the Proctor, the Vice-Chancellor and him in the administrative bloc, and did not let them go home during the protest.
“We did not have dinner that day. The VC, who is an elderly person, also missed taking medication for his blood pressure as he was not allowed to leave the building. We were brought to a situation where we had to call the police,” he said.
They were only able to leave for their homes at 9 am the following day after the protest numbers dwindled due to police presence.
“Currently, we appealed to the students to let normalcy prevail on campus, otherwise we will be forced to close the campus and take our classes online,” the Registrar said. This closure would also be applied to the residents of the hostels, he added.
“The committee is conducting its inquiry. Meanwhile, we are waiting for campus affairs to come back to normal before we announce the date for the elections,” he said.
According to Talha, the students are also in agreement with this condition.
