The students of Allahabad University are staging a protest meeting today, November 2 near the Allahabad University gate. This comes as a result of alleged student suspensions, FIRs (First Investigation Report) lodged against them by the Proctor of the varsity, Dr Rakesh Singh, and denial of entry to the varsity for a few students.
The students of the varsity and the All India Students' Association (AISA) unit said that after the protest meeting, they will give an ultimatum to the police to file an FIR against the proctor for allegedly imposing a lathi charge on a student on October 17. "We will give an ultimatum to the police and if the FIR is not lodged by tomorrow, November 3, we will conduct Student Panchayat on November 23," said AISA General Secretary Prasenjeet Kumar.
October 17 protest
On October 31, AISA unit wrote to President of India Droupadi Murmu seeking intervention into the troubled developments on the campus. As per the letter, the long pending issue of an overall 400% fee hike in all subjects of the university for over a year has led the students and student groups to sit on continuous protests and hunger strikes. Instead of solving students' concerns, the letter alleged that the administration took a repressive action of sending students behind bars under "baseless allegations." The students Ajay Yadav Samrat, Satyam Kushwaha, and Jeetendra Dhanraj were sent to jail and were released after three months.
Their arrest created unrest among the groups and led to a protest on October 17 during which AISA unit President and former student Vivek Kumar was seen lathi-charged by the proctor in a video which went viral on social media. It is said that the students are facing severe consequences and repercussions for staging protests and highlighting their concerns.
The letter read, "...all these students carrying out democratic campaigns and protests for campus democracy and other demands such as opening of Library 24x7, ending newly imposed curfew timings that curtail the freedom of movement in campus premises, and asking for clean drinking water, among many other such demands have met with only unreasonable suspensions on baseless allegations and brutal repressions using the campus security and many a times police as well." Additionally, when protesting for the same, "student leaders Manish Kumar, Harendra Yadav, Bhanu, and Anurag Yadav have been suspended and their campus entry was banned for carrying out peaceful protests and democratic demands," the letter added. Also, Harendra Yadav has been disallowed from appearing for exams.
Demand for suspension
The demands of the students remain the release of the three students from jail, the lifting of the suspension of all students, and permission for Harendra Yadav to appear for exams, among other demands. However, with the lathi charge on Vivek, the demand for the suspension of the proctor has been raised along with lodging an FIR. It is said that Vivek was from the Dalit community and as per reports, the proctor had allegedly attacked Vivek for standing up for student concerns.
Speaking to EdexLive, Satyam Kushwaha, a student who was jailed, shared that an FIR couldn't be lodged to date as the police were not allowing it. Prasenjeet Kumar claims, "On October 20, the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Allahabad assured an FIR would be lodged very soon but however, but there was no action"
Satyam and Prasenjeeth both concurred when they sshared, "Activities like political meetings, distributing posters, organising study circles and others have been prohibited in the university."
Stayam claims, "Around 50 students have been suspended and over 20 students have FIR lodged against them within six months of the new proctor assuming charge," he alleged. Adding more, he said, "These kinds of incidents which are creating hurdles to students' rights have been happening since the proctorship started from May 2023."
When asked if reaching out to the dean or vice-chancellor would lead to a solution, Satyam alleged that the proctor has been behaving repressively backed by the support of the vice-chancellor.
The letter also stated that, "...the university administration has adopted this undemocratic stance and character of brutally, suppressing students' demands and punishing them for practising and exercising their constitutional rights." It also mentioned that AISA demands a proper inquiry against the proctor for his actions towards the students.
Other demands as per the letter to the President of India are:
1) Release of all the student leaders under imprisonment who were involved in the fee hike protest
2) Suspension and campus entry restriction orders against all the student leaders must be revoked
3) Strict legal action must be taken against Chief Proctor Rakesh Singh under the SC/ST Atrocities Act for brutally assaulting a Dalit student and he must be removed from his position
