Protests continue in Hyderabad varsity

Hyderabad, March 28: Protest continued in University of Hyderabad on Monday over the last week's police crackdown following return of P. Appa Rao as the vice chancellor.

Students, sympathetic towards those arrested and jailed, boycotted the classes in response to the call for nationwide protest given by the Joint Action Committee of Social Justice, comprising 14 students' organisations.

Raising slogans against the vice chancellor and demanding his removal and arrest, hundreds of students took out a march even as police and university security stepped up vigil to maintain law and order.

Holding placards and raising slogans against RSS, ABVP, the central government and police excesses, the students marched to the main gate and staged a sit-in before dispersing peacefully.

The boycott of classes was partial. While students stayed away from classes in school of social sciences, the department of life sciences functioned normally. The classes resumed Monday, five days after violent protests rocked the campus.

As many as 25 students and two faculty members were arrested during police crackdown on those protesting against the vice chancellor. They obtained bail on Tuesday.

The security was tightened and the campus remained closed for outsiders amid fears of fresh showdown between protesting students and the administration. The university authorities had vowed to resume classes despite the boycott call by the JAC. However, the day passed off without any confrontation.

There was a sense of relief among students with a city court grating bail to those arrested and jailed. The JAC, however, vowed to continue its movement for justice to Rohith Vemula, the Dalit research scholar who committed suicide in January.

IANS