HCU VC Appa Rao Must Go, Says Teachers Association

The clamour for the ouster of HCU Vice-Chancellor P Appa Rao was heard in Delhi too.

The clamour for the ouster of Hyderabad Central University Vice-Chancellor P Appa Rao has still not seen a drop in decibels after he rejoined the university on 22 March. This, even as charges of him being involved in the abetment of Rohith Vemula’s suicide are yet to be resolved.

At a press conference organised by the Joint Action Committee for Social Justice – Delhi chapter, representatives of teaching associations of prominent universities came together, terming the recent events at the university perpetrated by the university administration and Government of Telangana, as nothing less than a “war crime”.

Nandita Narain, President of Federation of Central University Teachers Association (FEDCUTA), said

Our demands are the immediate removal of Vice Chancellor P Appa Rao and a proper judicial inquiry conducted into the events that unfolded at HCU.

Nandita Narain, President of Federation of Central University Teachers Association (FEDCUTA)

Narain said it was very clear that the demonstrations by the students and teachers inside the UoH campus were peaceful, terming news reports that alleged students smashed window panes, doors, and television sets in Appa Rao’s chambers, as “propaganda.”

Professor Ajay Kumar Patnaik, president of the JNU Teachers Association, added that the students at HCU were suffering, just as JNU had been suffering for the past one-and-a-half months and that he did not want the students and teachers at the Hyderabad-based university to be picked up by the police and labelled anti-nationals just as had happened at JNU. He, too, asked for the removal of the HCU VC.

A VC that cannot protect the autonomy of his institution doesn’t deserve to be the VC.

Prof. Ajay Kumar Patnaik, president of the JNU Teachers Association

Attacking Arun Jaitley for his statements on the victory of the BJP in what he had called the first round of the nationalism debate, Pattnaik wondered whether the final victory for the party would be putting “ all students and teachers in jail”.

Also read: Hyderabad University and JNU events Involved Jihadis: Arun Jaitley

Meanwhile, the 25 students and two faculty members at the university who were arrested for allegedly vandalizing property on the campus and engaging in violence on 22 March, were granted bail on Monday shortly after the press conference. Classes were also resumed at the university on Monday.

Manisha Sethi from Jamia Millia Islamia said the teaching association of the university also joined the demand for the immediate ouster of Appa Rao, and expressed solidarity with the teachers and students at HCU for “raising such a courageous struggle” for the past few months.

She also alleged that the presence of police at the venue of the press conference was to monitor the actions of the Joint Action Committee for Social Justice as it had been labeled as a front for Maoists in some media reports.

In turn, the Delhi chapter of the committee raised counter allegations against the BJP government at the venue, accusing it of unleashing “a reign of saffron fascist terror in all universities.”