Five students of the University of Hyderabad (UoH) have been suspended by the administration and asked to vacate their hostels by July 1. The students include elected union leader Ateeq Ahmed and four others.
“It is a replay of the suspension of Rohit Vemula case, where we have been asked to vacate the hostel. Our fellowship is being stopped for six months and we cannot have academic engagement with the department till December,” informed one of the suspended students.
Trouble had been brewing in the UoH over the hosting of cultural festival ‘Sukoon’, which marks a high in the organisational ability of the students’ union. The initial dates were April 28-30 but after a fight broke out between students’ groups, the administration wanted the dates to be shifted. “We proposed new dates of May 23-25 but even that was not acceptable to the administration. While they were flexible initially, once we got permission from the Gachibowli Police, the administration did not allow us to conduct the programme,” said the student.
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“The model code of conduct was in force till June 4 and the law enforcement agencies have prescribed 13 directives for conducting this festival,” the UoH had said in a statement for not giving permission.
Students protested outside the VC’s lodge on May 18 which led to the current action. The students have been fined ₹10,000.
According to them, two of the suspended students are in the final stages of their PhD course and their academic career could be in jeopardy if the suspension is not revoked.
The administration said that a statement over the issue would be released on Monday. Incidentally, UoH Vice-Chancellor B.J. Rao is on the panel of experts constituted by the Ministry of Education to improve the functioning of the beleaguered National Testing Agency (NTA) on June 22.
