All the student organizations are lending their support to DU students
protesting fee hike. But the VC of DU KC Deka seems to be man of courage and
principle. Students may view it as arrogance. But university authority needs
money as government does not give much. If the VC is forced to go because of
student agitation, it will be unfortunate.At the same time can anything be done
to alleviate the burden on students, if fee hike is really too much?
Unfortunatly , parents of the same students will be willing/compelled to pay
through their nose had their wards been studing in private some south indian
engineering colleges after not getting admission in any of the state
colleges/universities.
Varsity fee hike stand-off on - DU students demand VC ouster; organisations
back agitation, call bandh
OUR CORRESPONDENT
Dibrugarh, Aug. 26: The unrest in Dibrugarh University (DU) since Tuesday took
a turn for the worse today with both the students and authorities sticking to
their respective grounds on the fee hike issue and the “vice-chancellor ouster
cry” getting shriller.
Students hoisted black flags in all the departments of the campus, the
vice-chancellor’s office and the main administrative block since early morning
in protest against the “arrogant” attitude of the authorities on the issue.
The students also wore black badges and organised a demonstration in front of
the locked vice-chancellor’s office in clear defiance of prohibitory orders
issued by the Dibrugarh district administration under Section 144 CrPc.
Carrying placards, banners and festoons, the students also shouted slogans
demanding the ouster of university vice-chancellor Kandarpa Kumar Deka.
“Initially, our demand was an immediate rollback of the hiked fee structure.
But now the ouster of the arrogant VC is our main demand. We will not stop our
agitation and are prepared to face bullets,” said Arindam Buragohain, the
general secretary of the Dibrugarh University Post- Graduate Students Union
(DUPGSU).
The students are agitating on the fee hike issue under the leadership of the
union and All Assam Students’ Union.
As the VC entered the main administrative building today, the students laid
siege to it, besides blocking the main entrance to the building.
The students, after an hour of demonstration, took out a mock funeral
procession on the campus.
“The vice-chancellor had shown total disrespect towards the genuine demands of
the students. The VC had even asked the administration and police to forcefully
thwart our agitation. Therefore, we had no other option. We demand that a new
VC be appointed at DU,” Buragohain said.
The protesters also launched a signature campaign among the students.
“We will submit the signatures along with a memorandum to the Governor and
chancellor J.B. Patnaik demanding immediate removal of the vice-chancellor and
appointment of a new VC who will be sympathetic to our demands, Kasturi Nath,
president-in-charge of the DUPGSU, said.
The district administration, which had issued prohibitory orders on Wednesday,
apparently did not impose them in the first half of the day. However, in the
afternoon, a huge police contingent, led by additional SP (headquarters),
Debashish Sarma, entered the campus and urged students to disperse.
The students, till the filing of this report, were locked in talks with
Dibrugarh additional DC Bandana Dutta Tamuli and magistrate Sarangapani Sarma.
When contacted over phone, the vice-chancellor said the university
administration was open to holding discussions on the fee hike. “All issues can
be settled through discussions only. However, if the students remain arrogant,
we, too, will be compelled to initiate harsher action,” he said.
The All Assam Muttock Yuba Chatra Sanmelan, Tai-Ahom Yuba Parishad, All Assam
Tea Tribes Students’ Association, All Koch-Rajbongshi Students’ Union,
Sonowal-Kachari Students’ Union, All Deori Students’ Union and Asom
Jatiyatabadi Yuba Parishad have extended support to the agitation. They have
even called a 12-hour Dibrugarh district bandh on August 31 on the issue.
The North East Students Organisation, too, has extended support to the
agitation. NESO secretary general Gumjum Haider told reporters that the
university would have to withdraw the hiked fee structure.
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