Three days of continuous protests by students of Indian Institute of Science (IISc) over the death of a security guard, Gautam Biswal, has had no written response from the management so far. Biswal was killed when a newly-installed gate crashed on him last week. The demands of the students included suspension of Project Engineer Colonel Arun Sharma (mentioned as Ajay Sharma in the FIR) who has been booked on charges of negligence causing the death.
The second was to include student representatives on the investigative committee as mere observers, for the sake of transparency. A third demand was that the committee should come to a conclusion by July 9.
“Director Anurag Kumar had a meeting with protesting students on Wednesday evening. He only gave a verbal assurance that Sharma would be suspended. He signed a letter of our demands but did not share it with us. The other two demands were rejected. All we want is transparency. This accident could have happened to any of us,” said one student, who was part of the protest that began at 11 am.
In a press statement, students said, “Around 4.30pm, the institute called the police. The presence of Col. Sharma on the campus despite him being the subject of an investigation raises questions on integrity and fairness. The fact that there are many ongoing construction projects on the campus is alarming and a threat to the safety and well-being of the entire IISc community. However, despite many rounds of negotiations, the administration has refused to agree to our demands.”Students insist that pre-emptive action is not taken by the director.
