E-Paper
Pune police chief to meet student unions at SPPU on Nov 18
Pune Police Commissioner Retesh Kumaarr will meet student organisations and SPPU administration at the varsity on Saturday as authorities plan SOPs for student unions
Pune: The Pune police commissioner’s office will hold a meeting to address the dispute between the student unions that took place at the Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) campus in the past few days. The police department along with the university administration has taken a serious note of the several protests held on the varsity premises over the last week.
Against this background, a meeting of all student organisations and the university administration will be held by the Pune Police Commissioner Retesh Kumaarr at the university on Saturday (November 18) in which the standard operating procedures (SOPs) to be followed by these organisations will be prepared.
On October 31, there was a heated argument at the university premises between the activists of two student organisations namely the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and the Students’ Federation of India (SFI).
One of the student volunteers sustained serious head injuries in the clashes that escalated post arguments. Cross-complaints were lodged at Chatuhshrungi police station by the organisations. When this incident was fresh, an objectionable writing about Prime Minister Narendra Modi was found on a hostel wall of the university hostel.
The next day, on November 1, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) staged a protest at the university campus against the offensive writings about the Prime Minister. During the agitation, SFI workers too shouted slogans, resulting in violent clashes between them and ABVP workers.
After these incidents, the university administration immediately imposed strict restrictions on entering the university campus and visitors were also banned by the police.
The incidents prompted the authorities to chalk out regulations for student organisations. The SOPs will be prepared based on suggestions given by the student organisations, and administration officials, and after holding meetings with the vice-chancellor and other senior officials.
Hence, a meeting of student organisations has been called by Kumaarr, to be attended by SPPU vice-chancellor Prof Suresh Gosavi and senior officials.
“It is the responsibility of all stakeholders to maintain academic sanctity on the university premises and keep an atmosphere of harmony with ideological freedom, according to which there is a need to discuss with the associations of all students, teachers and staff related to the university and take comprehensive measures. For this, a meeting of the student representatives has been organised in the presence of the vice-chancellor and the police chief at the Dnyaneshwar Hall of SPPU main building at 11 am on Saturday. Three to five representatives of each student organisation will be allowed to take part in the meeting,” said Prof Parag Kalkar, SPPU pro-vice-chancellor.
