#ReopenHostels: VBU registrar leaves office after 84 hours as protest intensifies

VBU's SFI unit leader said the students had urged the registrar to leave the office on the morning of March 1 but he had refused and stayed put in his chamber
Visva-Bharati University
Visva-Bharati University

West Bengal's Visva-Bharati University is witnessing a heavy backlash from its student community as they continue their sit-in for over 96 hours, demanding the reopening of hostels that have been closed since the lockdown. The protests are certainly worrisome for the administration as the varsity's registrar Asish Agarwal could leave his office only after 84 hours and that too in the presence of police officials. 

The registrar left his office late on the night of March 3 after Calcutta High Court asked the police to ensure that the officers of the central university are not obstructed from performing their duty or the registrar from moving freely in Shantiniketan by the students. VBU's Students' Federation of India (SFI) unit leader, Somnath Sow, said the students had urged the registrar to leave the office on the morning of March 1— when the students began their sit-in — but he had refused and stayed put in his chamber.

The students, Sow said, vacated his office and camped outside on the lawn. "How can we leave till our friends get hostel accommodations? Since the university is not responsive to our needs, we prefer to stay in the open inside the campus. We are not creating any law and order situation. It is our right to be in the campus as students," Sow told PTI.

He said the sit-in by the students, which had begun first inside the chamber of the registrar in the central office building and then outside the main building in the open lawn from the second day, will continue indefinitely till the hostels are reopened. Asked if the continuation of the sit-in inside the campus was a violation of the high court order, Sow said, "We are not obstructing any official. We are not disrupting academic activities. We are forced to stay in the open as the university has not been able to reopen any of the 15 hostels, which are under lock and key since March 16, 2020. The state and the Centre have already allowed the respective college and university authorities to open the hostels after due precautions." 

He added, "Why should Visva-Bharati be not responsive to the needs of students who have come from outside? It is dithering on reopening hostels when offline classes are already on." The students have also demanded that the coming semester exams be conducted online as the classes were held online for the past two years. The university officials said the executive council will deliberate on the issues on an urgent basis and take appropriate action.

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