Students of the University of Mysore have accused officials of the administration of abusing their power to protect themselves by prohibiting protests within the campus.
In a circular dated July 20, the University had prohibited students from holding demonstrations within the campus without the prior permission from the administration. The circular stated that if the diktat is violated, the offenders will be met with stringent measures.
B Ravi, an All India Democratic Student Organisation (AIDSO) activist and a former student, alleged that the circular is a reaction to the protests by students and research scholars against the administration over illegal appointments of non-teaching staff.
“There were some alleged irregularities in the appointments of Group-D staff when Professor Rangappa was the Vice Chancellor. After an inquiry by his successor, V-C Dayanand Mane, the Karnataka High Court had directed the Governor to cancel the appointments,” he said.
Sources in the administration have stated the Rajanna, the registrar who issued the directive, has done so fearing protests from students since he was a part of the administration who allegedly bypassed mandated no
“Other than Rajanna, the officials named as potential offenders are V-C Rangappa, Finance Officer Mahadevappa and another Deputy Registrar Shankar of that time,” the source added.
Ravi added that the registrar was a close aide of former V-C Rangappa.
“The right to protest is a fundamental right and if students have grievances, they have the right to protest against the administration. This thing (circular) cannot be done. No authority can restrict students from protesting. See, the issue is that the Governor has issued a directive on annulling the appointments by the previous V-C. Secondly, he has asked officials responsible for this to be investigated,” a source within the administration said.
The same was echoed by Chandrakala Manasa Gangothri, a student of the University and a leader of the Mysuru unit of AIDSO. “We strongly oppose the decision of the administration of asking us to take permission from them before protesting. The circular is highly condemnable and we will raise our voice against this injustice and anti-student policy,” she said.