College polls are back,so is campus violence

“After the declaration of students’ union elections,the disturbances on campuses have been on the rise. Cases of assault on teachers have been reported,as a result insecurities have increased. The government’s indifference has not helped matters,” said professor P R Yadav,Vice-President,Federation of Uttar Pradesh University and College Teachers Association.

Here,in brief,is the state of affairs at some of the universities:

LUCKNOW UNIVERSITY

On March 8,a student named Eshwar Chandra Pandey was assaulted and fired at by a group of students,including expelled student leaders Upendra Pratap Singh and Vaibhav Singh. Pandey lodged an FIR against four people,including the two expelled leaders and two students. “This was the first incident of firing on the campus in many years,” said professor Pawan Agarwal,Chief Proctor. There is no student union in the university as the matter is pending in the high court.

In March last year,a group of youths,led by members of Samajwadi Party’s students’ wing Samajwadi Chhatra Sabha and BJP-backed ABVP,damaged the then V-C Manoj Kumar Mishra’s car while protesting against a large number of students failing in the third semester due to “faulty evaluation”.

In July,a group of youths,including university students as well as outsiders,created a ruckus and hurt three security guards and clashed with police at LU’s new campus during counselling for undergraduate courses. They were demanding admission for certain students. In August,a group of youths led by ABVP’s Alok Shukla bullied proctor professor Pawan Agarwal and admission coordinator professor Rajeev Pandey at the new campus,demanding Shukla’s admission to MA (Arabic). Police had to intervene. Shukla is also an accused in the March case of damaging the VC’s vehicle.

KANPUR UNIVERSITY

Although students’ union polls have been suspended at Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj University,Kanpur,on high court’s orders,several unsavoury incidents have taken place.

In August,DAV college had to lodge an FIR against a student leader,Vipin Shukla,who claimed to be a member of Samajwadi Party Chhatra Sabha. Awadhesh Singh,chief proctor of the college said Shukla,who was not a student,entered the campus for campaigning with firearms. When asked to leave,college officials were called to the SP’s office for talks where they were assaulted.

“The teachers decided that till the administration provides security to teachers,we will not hold elections in our college. Later,the election was stayed by HC,” said Singh.

In February,Mohit Mishra,a student leader of VSSD college,was found murdered in the city. FIR named student union president of the college Dipu Nishad and others.

ALLAHABAD UNIVERSITY

Since the university’s decision to vacate hostels in order to remove illegal occupants in April last year,the central university has been a site of constant tension and clashes. Vice-Chancellor A K Singh was held hostage in his office for 30 hours in April,and efforts to free him led to clashes between students and police. The police had to lathicharge and lob tear gas shells to disperse the students,who retaliated by stone-pelting and arson. Nine FIRs were lodged against 11 named persons,including SP supporters and over 300 unidentified persons. Since then,clashes have become regular. Last month,the university was closed for almost a week in apprehension of violence after student union president Dinesh Singh Yadav and others manhandled the V-C and assaulted staff members. An FIR was lodged against union leaders and Yadav was expelled from the university.

On March 9,students hurled crude bombs on each other during distribution of forms for the government scheme for free laptops. About 20 students and several security personnel were hurt.

GORAKHPUR UNIVERSITY

On March 10,at Deen Dayal Upadhyay University,Gorakhpur,students set on fire a hostel room and opened fire at a student named Satvant Singh,who luckily escaped. An FIR was lodged and police are investigating,said O P Pandey,chief proctor of the university. “Violence on campus was under control for the past three to four years. However,the incidents have increased recently,” Pandey added.

In August last year,after a student leader named Satya Pal Singh was shot dead by unidentified assailants outside campus,the students of the university and other youths forced classes to shut down. Before this,the murder of another student leader Pradeep Singh had led to similar protests. Hundreds of students gheraoed the V-C’s

office,protesting against the suspension of student leader Girijesh Gupta Tyagi.

In another incident,a group of youths,including Samajwadi Chhatra Sabha national secretary Hareshyam Singh,allegedly misbehaved with the V-C and tried to damage his vehicle,after which the university

administration lodged an FIR,said Pandey.

In October,V-C Pravin Chandra Trivedi wrote to Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav,asking him to take action against some people allegedly associated with the Samajwadi Party and involved in these incidents.