University of Hyderabad student body demands Vice Chancellor scalp

Hyderabad: The students of University of Hyderabad ruled out any negotiation with the varsity administration unless Vice Chancellor P Appa Rao was sacked from the post. Speaking to The Hans India, UoH Students’ Union president Zuhail K P stated that they would not negotiate with any of the accused in Rohith’s suicide case or his representatives.

“We will not have a dialogue as long as the VC is in office,” he said. The university on Monday constituted a seven-member committee headed by School of Economics Dean B Kamaiah to negotiate with students to restore normalcy on the campus.

Department of Political Sciences Head G Sudarshanam, Centre for Human Rights Head, B Chandrasekhar Rao, Department of Anthropology Head N Sudhakar Rao, Department of Telugu Head Saratjyostna Rani, Centre for Health Psychology Head Meena Hariharan and Department of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics Head Niyaz Ahmed were other members of the committee.

The administration said the committee would discuss with student representatives about matters that were negotiable from the list of demands submitted by students to the university and submit a report within six weeks. The university committee asked JAC and Students’ Union to nominate two members each to the committee.

Meanwhile, Vice Chancellor P Appa Rao appeared before the State Human Rights Commission amidst heavy security and clarified his version to the chairman about the incidents that occurred on March 22. On the other hand, welcoming bail for 24 students, two faculty members and one independent filmmaker, the Joint Action Committee for Social Justice-University of Hyderabad alleged that fresh charges were being registered against students by the legal counsel representing the administration.

“This is a calculated ploy to suppress the voices of people demanding their rights. It is a desperate move as the struggle for Justice for Rohith is not just a nationwide struggle but is also garnering international support.” “They have faced immense physical and mental violence while in police custody and en route to police station.

Several false charges had been slapped against them and other UoH students. We salute their resilience in the face of such orchestrated state repression and for standing up to Rohith Vemula and the democratic spirit of this struggle,” the JAC said. The JAC demanded that all charges against students and faculty be dropped and Appa Rao be arrested under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act.

They also demanded demilitarisation of the campus and enquiry against police personnel for physical and sexual assault on female students, false detention and for giving misinformation about detained people. Classes held peacefully despite JAC’s boycott call Defying the boycott call given by the Joint Action Committee for Social Justice-University of Hyderabad, majority of the students attended classes on Monday.

The classes at the university resumed after six days following vandalism at the VC’s lodge on March 22. Even as the JAC tried to persuade students to boycott classes, students resumed their academics and some of the departments have also conducted internal examinations scheduled. While there were about 5,200 students on the campus, about 200 students took part in the protest call given by the JAC.

The JAC called for boycott in protest against VC Appa Rao resuming the office and police brutality on the students. The protesting students who gathered at the administration block raised slogans against the Vice Chancellor. According to a press release issued by the university, all classes and internal examinations were held according to the schedule without any disruption. Meanwhile, the VC in a release yet again appealed to students and faculty members to cooperate to restore normalcy on the campus.