E-Paper
Journalism university in Bhopal expels 23 students on disciplinary grounds
Vice-chancellor Deepak Tiwari said the students’ demand for instant justice was unjustified.
Twenty-three students of Bhopal’s Makhanlal Chatruvedi National University of Journalism and Communication (MCNUJC) were expelled from the varsity on Tuesday in a disciplinary action, the institution’s administrative authorities said. Two of the students are women.
“The students were holding agitation on the campus and disrupting academic activities. Their conduct was considered as an act of gross misconduct by the disciplinary committee of the university. Vice-chancellor Deepak Tiwari approved the committee’s recommendation to rusticate the students from the campus”, said Deependra Baghel, registrar of the university.
The administration said the students who had launched their agitation on December 11, are from different departments of the university including journalism, mass communication, electronic media etc.
Earlier, the university administration had lodged an FIR against 11 of these students on Friday for allegedly creating ruckus on the campus and going on the rampage during their agitation.
One of the expelled students Saurabh Kumar said, “The action is unjustified. We will oppose this. A number of ex-students are going to return their degrees to the university in protest. We will continue our agitation till our demands are met.”
The students were demanding termination of the services of two adjunct professors Dilip Mandal and Mukesh Kumar, quashing the FIR against 11 students and vice-chancellor’s clarification as to why he dubbed the protesting students as ones affiliated with a particular ideology.
Last Thursday, the students staged a demonstration and created ruckus on the campus demanding action against the professors while alleging that they were propagating an “anti-Manuvad ideology” and trying to create a rift among students in the name of castes and ideology.
However, vice-chancellor Tiwari said the students’ demand for instant justice was unjustified.
“A 10-member committee of the university is already looking into the charges of the students against the two adjunct professors. Any action against anyone has to follow a due process. Nobody can be and should be denied a chance to present his side. But students want immediate action against the professors and this is unjustified and uncalled for,” Tiwari said.
Mandal took to Twitter to deny the allegations against him by the students and asked them to debate with him on the issues they were raising.
