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Three students of the University of Hyderabad have launched an indefinite hunger strike over six key demands to the university administration, including menstrual leave, a fellowship hike, and gender-sensitisation workshops. The students – Srestha, Sidhant, and Riya – are all members of the Left student organisation, All India Students' Association (AISA).
The students have been sitting at the North Shopcom on hunger strike, which entered its fourth day on August 23. They have made the following demands to the university administration:
> Menstrual leave and bodily dignity
> Rs 3,000 University of Hyderabad Student Assistance (UoHSA) fellowship for every eligible student, without the 1,200-recipient cap
> An end to the backlog and 75% attendance barriers in UoHSA
> Meaningful attendance relaxation for chronically ill and disabled students
> Mandatory and meaningful gender-sensitisation workshops
> Remedial classes and academic support for students facing structural inequalities
The protesting students have also criticised the administration for not allowing them to bring in tents to set up shelter to continue their strike. An AISA member from UoH, Srijan, said that the students had to temporarily shift back to their hostels on the night of August 22 as their makeshift tarpaulin tents couldn’t withstand heavy rain. The students shifted back to the hunger strike site on August 23.
AISA HCU said the administration has not responded clearly to any of their demands. On August 22, a Medical Officer was sent to check on the hunger strikers, who advised ORS due to declining sugar levels, a statement from AISA said, adding that the administration was “threatening police intervention and force-feeding in the name of ‘procedure’.”
The University Registrar also sent security personnel to ask the hunger strikers to meet him in his cabin for a discussion, AISA said. Instead, they demanded that the Registrar must visit the site of the hunger strike and engage in a dialogue with the students.
The hunger strike was launched soon after a visit to the campus on August 17 by AISA national president Neha Bora, who maintained a hunger strike for 23 days at Jantar Mantar against the NEET paper leak, along with two other AISA members, Manish Kumar, and Aameen Amitoj, along with climate and education activist Sonam Wangchuk.
The striking AISA HCU students too invoked the Jantar Mantar protests that led to the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. They said they intend to continue the hunger strike as long as possible in pursuit of their demands.
