Hyderabad: Worried about a possible police action, students pro-testing the police brutality at the Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University shut the gates of Maulana Azad National University (Manuu) to professors and staff on Monday morning.
From midnight, there was major upheaval in the campus as news spread of police action against students in the North.
Students feared a similar police invasion, given the excuse of a pending case between two student union groups from a scuffle during the Azad Day celebrations.
It was in the backdrop of a weeklong agitation agai-nst the Citizenship Amend-ment Act. Students on Sunday night mailed the administration that they would boycott exams, scheduled from Monday, as a mark of protest. They then locked the gates. They besieged the main gate, raising slogans against the Delhi police and UP Police, demanding suspension of erring personnel. A namaz was prepared for rumour-ed deaths which turned out to be false and tempers cooled. After professors counseled the students, they allowed the staff to enter the campus at noon.
Cyberabad Police Commissionerate deployed a substantial force outside the University but refrained from entering the campus. Students’ Union president Umer Faruq was under immense pressure to call off the agitation from university authorities who wished to restore academic activity.
Students agreed to continue examinations from Thursday. A letter went to the Controller of Examinations requesting him to resume examinations from Thursday. The revised timetable for examinations will be announced later.
“The agitation in our university will continue, but we have to attend to examinations as we do not want to disturb studies,” Faruq told DC. “We are exploring an alternate kind of protest, considering a relay hunger strike but it is not finalised,” the students’ union president said.
