“We want justice!” as hundreds of students along with many faculty members sit in protest, demanding strict action against the Vice Chancellor of Hyderabad University, MoS Labour and Employment Bandaru Dattatreya and some students of ABVP.
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Around 7 students protesting at UoH, shifted to hospital, after their health deteriorated. Protesting students also began a ‘Chalo HCU (Let’s go to HCU)’ march as the stand-off between the university authorities and protesters entered the second week today.
The HRD ministry is vividly shaken by the stormy response to its diktat over central universities as the suicide of Rohith Vemula, a Dalit student from Central University of Hyderabad, began to spread to other universities, especially JNU in Delhi.
Their demands include outster of Vice Chancellor P Appa Rao, who has proceeded on leave, and passing a “Rohith Act” to prevent suicide of ST, SC, BC and minority students in universities, the protesting students said.
The students who gathered on the campus included those from Calicut University in Kerala, Pondicherry University, Osmania University and Maulana Azad National Urdu University.
Yesterday, a university notice said Prof Rao will be on leave and Vipin Srivastava, the senior most professor, shall perform the duties of the vice-chancellor.
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The university administration said there was no permission for the rally. It did not mention the period of leave. On the same day, seven students who have been on hunger strike since Vemula’s death were taken to the hospital and another set of seven students took their place to continue the agitation. “As our morcha neared Kamgar Nagar, a group came out from the RSS office and started assaulting us”, said a woman protester. “Unfortunately there is no response from the students”, he said.
