The suspended students of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University (BBAU), Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh whose suspension ended today, September 13, were suspended again for 15 days by the Disciplinary Committee of the varsity, stated official notice from the varsity. The students identified as Abhishek Kumar, Abdul Wahab and Vinod Kumar are currently pursuing their Master of Arts (MA) from the Department of Political Science and are also active members of the Students' Federation of India (SFI) unit of BBAU.
As the earlier suspension orders for not adhering to the varsity's code of conduct ended today, the SFI unit planned to organise a May I Come In rally. However, as soon as they reached the varsity's gate, they were denied entry and were informed about the suspension, claims the suspended student Abdul Wahab, who is also the Secretary of the SFI BBAU Unit.
The new suspension order, which EdexLive has access to, read, "As per the recommendations of the Disciplinary Committee, Mr. Abdul Wahab, M.A., Department of Political Science is hereby suspended with immediate effect for Fifteen days (15) and during this period the University campus shall be out of bound for him. It is, also to be informed that you should submit your explanation to the Chairman, Disciplinary Committee within 15 days so that the matter can be resolved as soon as possible."
Regarding the submission of an explanation, the suspended student claimed, "We do not know for what exactly an explanation is being sought." He also put forth this question to the authorities as well. He alleged, "While the chairman of the disciplinary committee Dr DR Modi said he is not aware of today's suspension order, the proctor Prof Sanjay Kumar replied saying, 'You (Abdul Wahab) know what the committee has asked an explanation for'."
Abdul said, "In both scenarios, I don't know why I was punished. I cannot be punished for the same thing twice."
Speaking to EdexLive, the spokesperson of the varsity Dr Rachana Gangwar said the matter has been handed over to the disciplinary committee for further action. Disclosing the reason behind the suspension of the students again, she said, "After the suspension, the students continued to indulge in those activities which were restricted by the university administration as per its code of conduct. Hence, the students were served with another notice of suspension order."
However, the student alleges that he was suspended to prevent his presence for a lecture being held tomorrow. The lecture is by Editor-in-Chief Sudarshan NewsTV Suresh Chavhanke on the 350th coronation year of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
Here's a flashback
On September 1, the varsity released a notice in Hindi on its website. The circular which EdexLive has access to, reads, "All students are informed that putting up any kind of banner/poster or distributing any other promotional material without permission is completely prohibited on the university campus. If any student is found doing this, action will be taken against him as per the rules of the university."
Post the circular, which students were seemingly unaware of, SFI sought permission to set up a help desk to assist first-year students with admission procedures. The permission was granted yet three students were suspended for not adhering to the circular. Though they say that they had put up no banners, BBAU spokesperson Dr Rachna Gangwar told EdexLive, "Though the students were asked to use the university banner, it was not done. They also did not seek permission through the proper channels. Hence, the action was taken."
Hence, to protest against the circular, the students initiated a mass email protest on September 9.
