Human Rights Of Students Were Never Violated, Says Hyderabad University

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad Central University on Saturday told the Andhra Pradesh State Human Rights Commission (APSHRC) that human rights of the students were not violated during the developments at the varsity this week.

PL Vishweshwar Rao, spokesperson of Aam Aadmi Party's Telangana unit, had filed a petition before the APSHRC, alleging that Hyderabad Central University authorities closed the hostels and denied food, water, electricity and internet to the students following protests over resumption of duty by the Vice Chancellor Appa Rao Podile on March 22.

On Thursday, the Commission had sought a report from the vice chancellor.

Hyderabad university registrar M Sudhakar in his report before the APSHRC termed the complaint against the vice chancellor as "false, motivated" and not reflecting the facts. None of the hostels were closed and not a single student was evicted from hostel, he said.

"While the vice chancellor is sparing no effort to restore normalcy on the campus, rumours, as mentioned in the complaint, are being spread to cause unrest in the University," the report said.

Demonstration by non-teaching staff led to the closure of messes on March 22, which were reopened by March 24. Water supply and internet facility were never disconnected but there was "temporary" disruption, the Hyderabad Central University report said.

As to the incidents of March 22, a note submitted before the APSHRC said that after conclusion of recording of depositions of various stakeholders by the Commission of Inquiry appointed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development on March 21, the vice chancellor rejoined on March 22.

"When the vice chancellor was holding a meeting with the local members of the Executive Council at the VC's Lodge (his official residence), a mob vandalised the personal property of the vice chancellor and that of the University besides manhandling and roughing up the security staff," it said.

"But for the timely intervention of the students of the Life Sciences department and some non-teaching staff, who formed a protective security cordon, the Vice Chancellor and other faculty members would have been brutally assaulted," the note said, adding "from the brutality of actions of mob and slogans raised by them to extent of killing the VC, it can be gauged that their intention was to cause physical harm to the VC."

The note further said that even the members of electronic media, who had come to the VC's Lodge to attend a press conference, were assaulted by the mob.

The protesting students who continued the agitation near the VC's Lodge failed to respond to the appeals by the police to leave the premises and hence the police took them out of the compound, it said.

Enraged by this, the students started pelting stones at the police, injuring some of them, after which the police resorted to mild use of force to disperse them so as to avoid further damage to the varsity's property, it claimed.

Subsequently, 27 students and two associate professors were arrested for vandalising the government property and pelting stones at the police personnel, the note added.

The protesting students are opposed to resumption of duty by Appa Rao Podile, whom they hold "responsible" for suicide of Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula. The bail applications of arrested students and professors would be heard on March 28.