A day after students of Hyderabad’s English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU) went on a hunger strike to protest against the administration, the university appointed a new Proctor on Tuesday, November 7. Professor T Srivani from EFLU’s Department of Hispanic and Italian Studies will be replacing the previous Proctor, T Samson, who will now be EFLU’s Dean of Planning.
Protests in EFLU commenced on October 18 following the sexual assault of a female student on campus. Among their list of demands, the students had asked for the resignation of Vice Chancellor Suresh Kumar and Proctor T Samson. The Proctor is alleged to have called the assault a “small incident” in an effort to clamp down on protests.
Also Read: Student sexually assaulted in Hyderabad's EFLU, campus erupts in anger at official apathy
In a statement released on Wednesday, November 8, the EFLU student body noted that the change of Proctor was “only a partial fulfilment of demands.”
“We see this as a result of our continuing struggle to ensure a safe campus space. We stand united for our cause and continue with the indefinite hunger strike until all the demands – justice for the survivor, resignation of the Vice Chancellor as well as the remaining members of the Proctorial Board, reconstitution of the Internal Committee (ICC) with elected student representatives, withdrawal of the false FIRs and show cause notices, and immediate conduct of student union elections - are met,” read the statement.
The student body also noted that the Proctor T Samson has “had a history of targeting students who questioned his various derelictions of duty, as shown in the baseless FIR filed against 11 peaceful protestors.”
Also Read: FIR against 11 EFLU Hyderabad students who held protest against sexual assault on campus
In his complaint, Samson had stated that the 11 students provoked approximately 200 others and ‘successfully inflamed violence’ on the campus as the university administration did not yield to the ‘tactics of the accused’. 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 EFLU student body also took issue with a note released by the administration on Monday, November 6, which stated that the resignation of the Proctorial board was “untenable.”
“The replacement of the Proctor as per the next day’s circular proves the opposite.”