Activists demand UoH V-C’s resignation

Warangal: Institute of Chinese Studies Chairperson and University of Delhi former Prof Manoranjan Mohanty, and Civil Liberties leader and Save Education Committee general secretary G Haragopal demanded withdrawal of cases against students and professors of University of Hyderabad (UoH). Talking to media on the sidelines of a public meeting organised by the Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners (CRPP) at Ambedkar Bhavan here on Sunday, Mohanty demanded the government to withdraw police forces from the varsity campus with immediate effect.

“UoH’s scholar Rohith Vemula’s suicide stands as a prime example of the kind of discrimination the Dalit students were getting in the varsities,” he asserted, deploring the plight of oppressed sections of the society. He said that it was unethical on part of the government to allow the vice-chancellor P Appa Rao, who is on a long leave, to return and resume his office in the varsity. Further he demanded the government not to meddle into the affairs of the varsities.

The teachers are competent enough to run the varsities. Prof Haragopal said: “Political interference is the root cause of all problems in varsities. Though there was a possibility of solving the tiff between the ABVP activists and the Dalit students democratically, the intervention of politicos made the situation worse.” While agreeing that there was some kind of discrimination against the Dalits students in varsities, he urged for a change in the attitude of the faculty, especially when dealing with the students of Dalit and rural background.

Referring to the statement made by the Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on the floor of the House on Saturday, Prof. Haragopal expressed hope that the state government would prevail over the Centre in recalling the vice-chancellor thereby restoring the peace in the varsity. Telugu writer and 2013 Sahitya Akademi award winner Katyayani Vidmahe appealed to government to respect people’s different ideologies, even it disagrees with them.

Referring to the unrest in universities across the country, Katyayani alleged that there was a conspiracy to fail the state varsities to promote the private establishments. Save Education Committee district vice-president M Ravinder, secretary T Linga Reddy, M Gangadhar, A Narsimha Reddy, TVV joint secretary Balraju and CDSU leader Avinash were present.