Anger and disquiet at University of Hyderabad after suspension of 5 students who protested at V-C home

In the first week of May, the university administration announced that the cultural festival would be conducted in August, when the university is open for academic sessions, instead of May last week, during the vacation.

“Moreover, the Model Code of Conduct of the Parliamentary elections was in force till June 4 and the law enforcement agencies had also prescribed 13 directives for conducting this festival,’’ the administration said in a media statement.

Angry students then started protesting at Velivada, the place on the campus where Rohith Vemula had sat on a protest against his suspension on disciplinary grounds. Vemula died by suicide on January 17, 2016.

G Mohith, one of the suspended students, said the students had already started preparing for the cultural festival when the university postponed it without consulting the student organisers. “We paid advances to various people from our own pockets for various things we needed to organise the festival. The university also did not allocate any budget for the festival. Students became angry and started protesting,’’ he said.

The suspension may cause three students—Ateeq Ahmed, Kripa Maira George, and Asika V M—to lose their fellowships as per the guidelines of the University Grants Commission.

University officials allege that during the protest on May 18, some members of the students’ union barged into the vice-chancellor’s residence at 1 am and prevented him and his family members from venturing out.

The vice-chancellor and the university administration alerted police and subsequently an FIR was registered in this connection at the Gachibowli station. On May 31, the registrar’s office issued an order regarding disciplinary action against 10 students on the basis of the proctorial board’s recommendations and the vice-chancellor’s orders of May 29.

The student’ union president and four others were suspended for one semester (July-December 2024) from the university campus and expelled from their hostels for the period. The five other students were fined Rs 10,000.

The disciplinary action has caused widespread anger among the student community.

On Monday, students protested outside the administration block demanding withdrawal of the suspensions. An official said the university’s Executive Council meeting on June 28 would take up the plea of the students’ union in this regard.

“With the suspension of these students, their academic careers are under great risk and their fellowships will be cancelled. This incident is similar to Rohit Vemula’s case,’’ the Students Federation of India’s (SFI) said, alleging that the university administration was stifling voices of dissent. All the five suspended students are office-bearers of the SFI unit in the university.

According to the SFI, Sukoon is the only space where students, faculty members, and non-teaching staff come together and celebrate cultural diversity. The event reflects the spirit of the university and students look forward to it the whole year, the SFI added.

“If the administration had an issue with the dates of Sukoon, it could have been conveyed. Instead they delayed and cancelled it at the last minute without properly engaging with us. Students felt betrayed and to convey this we protested outside the V-C’s house peacefully. They called the police and registered a case against us,’’ Ateeq Ahmed said.