The university which has not witnessed such violence on campus before, came under criticism from within its own faculty members who criticised authorities' decision to seek sedition charges against its students.
Hours after sedition charges were slapped on over 68 students of Panjab University (PU) for allegedly raising slogans against the "state", university authorities made a turnaround and said that the charges against the students have been dropped.
As many as 53 students were arrested by the Chandigarh Police on Tuesday, after protests led by student organisations against fee hike turned violent. As the protesting students laid siege to the premises of the Vice-Chancellor's office demanding a rollback of fee hike, they were lathi-charged by the police coupled with use of tear gas and water cannons, after some protesters resorted to stone-pelting.
"We had stated in our complaint that students raised slogans against the state, which referred to PU, Punjab government, MHRD and UGC. If somebody misinterpreted it, it is not the fault of university officials," said Professor Arun Kumar Grover, VC (PU).
The university which has not witnessed such violence on campus before, came under criticism from within its own faculty members who criticised authorities' decision to seek sedition charges against its students.
As some faculty members came out in support of students, Chief Security Officer Ashwini Koul who made the complaint defended PU's decision stating that university did not seek sedition charges and it was an action taken by the police.
"Soon after we were told that the police had booked students for sedition, we wrote a revised complaint and pressed police to drop the sedition charge. The initial FIR was cancelled and a fresh case was registered for rioting and damaging property. It is up to the police to enquire, investigate and take action since several police constables were also injured. But for us, students are most important," said Koul responding to demands of his resignation over the issue.
After the incident, VC addressed a gathering of faculty members detailing reasons which led the university to implement the fee-hike. Standing by the decision, Professor Grover stressed that it was the only workable solution to the perennial financial crisis faced by PU.
"We all need to worry. The burden of continuously upgrading the university is mounting with growing financial difficulties. Fee hike is one step to sustain this university amidst UGC's constant pressure to raise our internal income," he said, adding that UGC had been making unsavory statements about PU including allegations of bungling of funds which should be unacceptable to all faculty.
Highlighting that forces de-stabilising the institution should be resisted, he said, "We were taken aback by Tuesday's incident. It was never anticipated that students will go to an extent, which we witnessed. The incident must be taken very seriously."
All 53 students arrested were produced before a local court and sent to judicial remand.
Barring ABVP, all other student organisations including Left-leaning Students for Society (SFS) along with NSUI, SAD-backed SOI had gathered to protest against the fee hike outside VC office on Tuesday. When police began lathi-charge, some students rushed and took shelter in the university Gurdwara where police was not allowed to enter.
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