Students led by the All India Democratic Students’ Organisation (AIDSO) observed ‘Black Day’ on Sunday against what they alleged the “sponsored sine die” at the Ravenshaw University here.
They urged the Government to immediately revoke sine die, give stringent punishment to the miscreants in the campus and start the Students’ Union election process immediately.
AIDSO, Ravenshaw University committee president Santosh Pathak said that contrary to the claim of the authorities, the campus continues to be peaceful, the sinister attempts of certain forces inimical to the interest of the students to create disturbances notwithstanding.
He said that on September 27, as part of a conspiracy hatched at the highest level of the Government and the ruling party, a few hooligans and nonstudents stage-managed disturbance in the campus to create ground for cancellation of the elections. Surprisingly, the authorities did not take any step to prevent lawlessness by the handful of hooligans, which has only emboldened them.
Student leaders said that by taking an unusually soft approach towards ruling BJD-backed campus hooliganism the authorities have allowed the situation to plummet and reach such a sad state. Nothing was done over the years to nip campus indiscipline in the bud with an iron hand. When students protested against the decision for cancellation of the elections, the authorities declared sine die. The manner in which the university authorities bowed down before the dictates of ruling party shows that the autonomy of the premier institution is at stake.
AIDSO, Cuttack district president Babi Balabantaray said the sit-in demonstration would continue against this undemocratic move of the authorities. If the authorities do not yield to the demand, the AIDSO would go in for parallel elections, he said.
Among others, AIDSO district secretary Bhagyarabi Das and Ravenshaw student leaders Amarendra Nayak, Srikanta Nayak, Ranjan Moharana, Ronali Nayak and Sachi Ranjan Behera participated in the protest meeting.