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'My heart bleeds when Ramjas bleeds': Principal Rajendra Prasad wants peace as parting gift

In an emotional letter, head of Ramjas College Rajendra Prasad, who retires today, urges students to confront ideas, not people

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Rajendra Prasad, who served as Ramjas College Principal for 32 years, made an emotional written appeal to students on Monday, urging them to maintain calm and peace on the campus as a parting-gift to him. Prasad retires on Tuesday. The longest-serving Principal of the college termed the recent violence on the campus "unfortunate" and advised his students to "confront ideas and not people".

"Never ever in my 32-year career, have I seen such widespread violence in Delhi University (DU)," he said to journalists on Monday, adding that even during the Mandal Commission agitation, things were not this ugly.

"Tomorrow, I retire. I wish for nothing in return except that Ramjas remains peaceful and committed to the glorious future it is destined to set for itself," said Prasad, who took charge as the Principal in 1985, at a young age of 33.

"My heart bleeds when Ramjas bleeds because I have put in 32 years of blood, sweat, and tears to bring Ramjas to its stature," he said expressing "pain" over the recent happenings in the college. "It is really painful that I'm retiring at this point of time, when Ramjas is in news for all the sad reasons," Prasad said.

Violent clashes took place in the college when hundreds of students associated with All India Students' Association's (AISA) and BJP-backed Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) attacked each other on February 23, causing serious injuries to many. The clashes followed the cancellation of an invitation to Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students Umar Khalid and Shehla Rashid Shora, after ABVP objected to the invite.

The Principal was scheduled to address students one last time on Monday, in order to appeal to them to maintain peace. He, however, ended up issuing a written appeal in the backdrop of ABVP's 'Tiranga march' at the campus.

"I dropped the idea to avoid any further disturbance on the campus," Prasad said. "I appeal to the students of this illustrious college, for which we have toiled so hard day and night, to not get involved in any activity that spoils the name and dignity of Ramjas. I got really emotional while writing this appeal as it came directly from my heart," he said.

Meanwhile, teachers at the college said Prasad's retirement will leave a big void in Ramjas. "It will be really difficult to find a Principal like him. He stood for the college in all ups and downs. It is really unfortunate that he is retiring amid so much chaos," a senior faculty member said.

The college has also formed an internal committee to probe the violent incident that took place in the college on Wednesday.

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