NEW DELHI, Jan 17: Tension prevailed in the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus after the police entered the premises late in the evening yesterday reportedly to prevent the students from going on a rampage at the Vice-Chancellor's residence. The students are agitated because of the rustication of two students, including the students union president.
A large number of students gathered at the Ganga dhaba late last night as the news of the rustication of Batti Lal Bairwa, the JNUSU president, and Manoj Purohit, a student of M.Phil, and an office bearer of the Students Federation of India (SFI) spread in the campus.
According to an eyewitness, more than 250 students marched peacefully to the Vice-Chancellor Prof Ashish Datta's residence wanting to speak to him about the rustication.
The students say they reached his house and ``through democratic means'' tried to speak to him. But he refused to meet them.
The police was called and a large police contingent reached the campus barricading the
V-C's residence. The students began chanting slogans against the police and the V-C's high-handedness. Some of the teachers reportedly rushed to the spot to ensure that no untoward incident occurred.
A section of the students had called for a bandh yesterday, which they said was successful with the teachers and the karamcharis joining in. Political groups, meanwhile, tried to give a caste colour to the crisis saying that the first Dalit president of JNUSU had been victimised. The student community is, however, divided, with the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) insisting they are not a part of the agitation.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has criticised the highly vindictive and motivated action ``of the JNU V-C in rusticating the first Dalit president of JNUSU as well as the unit secretary of the SFI.''
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
