Senate election fury has Gujarat University students fuming

The elections of the Gujarat University (GU) senate finally came to an end with declaration of all the results yesterday, and these much-awaited results gave most of those involved a reason to celebrate.

However, as an outcome of all these highly dramatic developments of the last few weeks, education on the university campus has predictably taken a backseat.

Students are questioning the way the campus has been used as a political playground lately. They say the elections have severely affected academics, and that a sense of angst and fear still prevails, even after the elections are over.

"Our parents were worried about our safety. They asked us to keep off the campus till the elections got over," said Pratik Bhatti, a final-year MA student. He said that frequent protests took place on the campus over the last few days, and many of these led to violent clashes.

Recently, in one such protest, the police detained all the protesters from the campus. "I can't understand how such activities can be allowed on campus," said an angry management student, adding that the use of loudspeakers at one such instance hampered their studies for a good two hours.

Shruti Parmar had gone to the university campus to submit her form for the MA (External) exams. "But drums were playing so loudly on the campus that I could barely hear the clerk's instructions!" she bemoaned.

Parmar was also angry with students bursting fire crackers on the campus. "They looked like hooligans to me, and they have literally taken over the entire campus," she added with anger.

Some students are also unhappy with the use of university property for political activities. "If they're so keen on contesting elections, the teachers should resign from the colleges and take to politics instead," said a furious MCom student. Rakesh Patel, a final-year Arts student, pointed out that with all this in-fighting, the university has severely dented its own reputation.