More than a week after the sudden return of Vice Chancellor P Appa Rao from his leave sparking a violent protest by students, the situation in the Hyderabad Central University was far from normal.
Even as the 25 students and two professors, released on bail by the court on Monday returned to the campus to heroes’ welcome vowing to intensify their fight, 42 faculty members went on a mass leave on Tuesday in protest against serious human rights violations by the police and university administration.
Majority of the teachers to go on leave were Dalits belonging to the SC ST Faculty Forum of HCU who were demanding removal and arrest of Vice Chancellor V Appa Rao holding him responsible for the suicide by a Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula and the violent incident on March 22.
In a letter to the Vice Chancellor, the faculty members informing their decision to go on mass leave expressed their pain and distress over the brutal use of force by the police against the protesting students and bystanders. They were unhappy that the university administration failed to come up with alternate arrangements to alleviate the distressing situation on the campus.
The teachers decided to take the path of protest after the students and faculty members released from jail narrated their tales of sufferings, physical and verbal violence unleashed against them. They gave details of how they were moved from one police station to another and were beaten up all through their journey with lathis and blows. “We were force to beg for our lives”, one of them said. Another recalled that the policemen were using words like terrorists, jehadis and prostitutes for the students.
Their move came a day after the attempt of the HCU administration to reach out to the agitating students by forming a committee to hold talks with the Joint Action Committee for Social Justice comprising of 14 students groups.
Four of the seven members declined to be part of the committee and stayed away from its meeting on Monday evening/