The South Asian University (SAU) campus in New Delhi is on the brink of protests once more. Two male students from the varsity in Delhi were recently served with rustication letters, while two women have received expulsion notices. According to a student who wishes to remain anonymous, the notices come in the wake of these students' participation in last year's protests.
What happened last year?
Several students in October 2022 demanded that stipends be increased for those pursuing Master's degree courses at SAU. Various forms of protest, including a hunger strike which lasted long, were organised. The university administration later in November expelled two students, Bhimraj M and Umesh Joshi, while rustication notices were served to another two and a student from Bangladesh was suspended for a semester.
One of the rusticated students, Ammar Ahmad, repeatedly requested the authorities to revoke his rustication, but when denied, he suffered from cardiac arrest and prolonged hospitalisation, according to a statement by the General Body of Students at SAU. The students state that the current situation at the varsity is a chain reaction of the events which came after Ammar's hospitalisation.
The administration mitigated the action taken against the five students earlier, reducing the expulsions to rustication, the rustication to suspension and the suspension to a fine. However, about a hundred students demanded that the punishment meted out to Ahmed be revoked entirely. Apoorva YK, a second-year LLM student, who has now been given an expulsion notice, says, "We also requested the administration to cover his hospital expenses, but nothing was done."
Then Ammar's brother lodged a complaint with the nearby Chanakyapuri police station against the university. It was claimed that Ammar was a victim of "institutional harassment". The case is open but SAU students allege that the police are doing little to help. According to the General Student Body, a court case against the expulsion of Bhimraj and Umesh is also ongoing.
"In December, there were vacations and the SAU campus was shifted, so we had a moment of peace. But 10 days after classes reopened in January, students received show-cause notices," said a student on the condition of anonymity. On January 13, 2023, five students received such notices and were interrogated by an ad-hoc "high-powered" committee. A month later, on February 18, the rustication and expulsion notices came to the students via emails from the Proctor.
Condemning the university's action, Rokeya Collective, an independent women and queer people's collective at SAU, issued a statement, a part of which reads, "The expulsion orders issued upon the recommendations of the ad-hoc high-powered committee flouted the principles of natural justice and refused to allow the examination of witnesses or a copy of the evidence in relation to the allegations of disciplinary misconduct put forth in the show-cause notices."
Sharing her experience of being interrogated by the committee, Apoorva says, "The members were very aggressive. Even though a female professor was present who could have done the questioning, a male professor accused me of using swear words, which made me very uncomfortable."
Procheta M, an MPhil scholar in Sociology, is the other student who has been expelled, while Keshav Sawarn (pursuing MA in Sociology) and Rohit Kumar (PhD scholar in Economics) have been rusticated. Meanwhile, Banya Chakraborty, also a student from MA Sociology, has been slapped with a fine and disallowed from pursuing any future courses at SAU.
Forceful eviction from hostel
These students state that they were forcefully evicted from their hostels yesterday, February 24. Procheta says, "It happened around 9-10 pm. Where could we have gone at that time? The authorities were excessively brutal." Apoorva informs that the students formed a human chain and prevented the eviction, with the authorities permitting them to stay one more day.
However, according to sources, the university plans to evict the students today with the help of the police. "Police might arrive at the campus at any moment. Anyone, even if a professor, who does not follow the university orders, would be given a show-cause notice," the source states.
The affected students from the Sociology department, after consultation with professors for a solution, were asked to submit an apology letter and an undertaking each to the Proctor, which they have done. "But even after that, they evicted us last night. maybe the authorities have not yet reviewed it. It is the weekend, so maybe we need to wait till Monday for updates," Procheta said.
