Smashed window panes of the vice-chancellor’s office
The decision to expel the six – Shubham Waydande, Aaron P Joy, Appu Soman, Abhilash B Nair, Nachiket Shashikant Pawar and Dhivahar M – was recommended at an emergency meeting of the Dean Council that was attended by 11 faculty members, representatives of departments and the registrar. Students have refused to attend classes since a clash erupted between them and Akhil Bharatiya Grahak Panchayat, an RSS affiliate, on Sept 26. The situation deteriorated further on Oct 4 after Bongiya Hindu Jagaran Manch staged a protest outside the institute and allegedly assaulted some students.
We have not, and do not intend to, use violence as a tactic in our protest against our vice chancellor,” said a statement released by the students’ union.
Security officer Prabir Kumar Munshi said obstruction of staff members began two days ago when students started demonstrations inside the administration building. He was earlier involved in a case where four biometric machines were found damaged,” Munshi said. He immediately met faculty members and ordered installation of CCTV cameras in the corridor outside his office, triggering another round of protest by the students. He claimed the staffers had to leave the building with police escort. “We are registering an FIR against Shubham Waydande, vice-president of the students’ union, for physically assaulting the VC. The student union claimed the allegations were completely fabricated and a clear attempt by the VC to install CCTV on the campus. “The students of SRFTI have employed strictly non-violent and peaceful tactics during our protest.
The Dean Council viewed the current incident of assault on the VC in conjunction with his earlier pending proceedings as a matter of serious concern for campus safety. On Thursday morning, when the VC reached his chamber, he found the window panes shattered and furniture covered in glass shards.