Following protests demanding the resignation of the Proctorial Board and the Vice-Chancellor on campus, the English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU) has announced an extension of holidays until October 29. The holiday circular issued on Sunday, October 22 also noted that the second Internal Assessment examinations are rescheduled and will be held between October 31 and November 6, 2023.
“The holidays are meant for the members of faculty and the students, and no classwork will be conducted during the holidays. However, all the Non-teaching staff of the University shall attend to their duties as usual, and the offices will remain open,” reads the circular.
Students at EFLU have been protesting against the alleged sexual assault of a female student from the intervening night of October 18-19. Several students have remarked that despite the presence of several CCTV cameras and security personnel, the assault happened. A week earlier, on October 16, students were protesting the reconstitution of SPARSH, the EFLU’s committee to deal with issues of sexual harassment which they allege has been defunct since 2020.
A day after the protests for SPARSH were put on hold, news of the assault broke and students protested outside the Proctor’s residence on campus at 4 am. The protests continued until 1 am on the intervening night of October 19-20 as police entered the campus and threatened to detain protesters. The Osmania University police also registered an FIR based on EFLU Proctor T Samson’s complaint. 11 students and ‘others’ were named in the FIR.
In his complaint, Samson stated that the 11 students provoked approximately 200 others and “successfully inflamed violence” on the campus as the university administration did not yield to their demands. Samson alleged the students assembled in front of his residence on campus with a “premeditated plan to harm him.” He also claimed that he “suffered from psychological trauma and stress as a result of acts of violence, coercion, and disruption of academic and administrative operations in this incident.”
The administration had cancelled two days of classes after Thursday’s incident, which students, who did not want to be identified, said was an attempt to avoid responding to the students' protests calling for justice and accountability. The FIR registered under Sections 153 (provocation), 143 (unlawful assembly), 153A (promoting enmity between two groups) and 149 (unlawful assembly) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) had already drawn several students away from the protests.
Following the FIR, 5 MPs from Kerala wrote to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan with MP Sivadasan also bringing the issue up with the National Women’s Commission.
Seeking justice for the survivor, Sivadasan said, “There are complaints that instead of addressing the just demands of the students, the administration is trying to muzzle out the voices of dissent through punitive actions upon those who demand their due rights…I request your kind attention and immediate intervention into the issue so that the rights of the students are protected,” he wrote.