BUIT students ask ABVP to stay away from protests
Students of Barkatullah University Institute of Technology (BUIT), protesting against the lack of facilities at the institute, have asked the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) to not interfere in their affairs.
Students of Barkatullah University Institute of Technology (BUIT), protesting against the lack of facilities at the institute, have asked the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) to not interfere in their affairs.
The students, facing multiple problems including a shortage of teaching staff and books, ill-equipped labs, and no facilities for training and placement, have been staging a demonstration against the institute.
As part of their ongoing protest, the students locked the gate of the institute, insisting that the administration and Barkatullah University vice chancellor MD Tiwari give them written assurance that their demands will be met.
On Saturday, the ABVP also joined the protest, which led to Tiwari giving a verbal assurance that the students’ demands would be met. On Monday, the university registrar gave his written assurance on paper. The ABVP celebrated the victory and helped open the institute gate.
However, some students locked the gate again and sat on dharna, demanding that the institute give its assurance on an official sheet, not on ordinary paper, as the registrar had done. When ABVP leaders asked them to open the lock, they refused.
“We are very upset with the facilities in BUIT. Just giving us assurance on ordinary paper is not enough… ABVP is unnecessarily trying to take credit by leading us but our demands are genuine and nobody can influence us,” said a protesting student.
However, ABVP leader Vishnu Kushwaha, himself studying at BUIT, said most students agreed with them and only a few students, who were “misguided by faculty members” had continued the protest.
“It’s not about ABVP… As the university agreed upon our demand, there is no issue of staging demonstration but a section of students were misguided by faculty members in the name of marks. They staged a protest but the gate was opened later in the evening,” another ABVP leader said.
BUIT director AK Pathak said, “There is a difference among students. ABVP members were satisfied with assurance of administration but a group of students raised a different demand and opposed them. However, in the evening things normalised.”