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Panjab University: Police, protesters clash as stir over PU senate grows. Here's why | Watch
Centre has backed down from its move to turn PU senate into nominated body, protests have continued as election schedule not out after term expired last year
The Chandigarh UT Police resorted to using canes to try and disallow protesting students and others, including activists from Sikh organisations and farm unions, onto the Panjab University campus to join a protest demanding dates now for the much-delayed PU senate elections.
The protest continues, seeking a poll schedule, after the Centre backed down on its move to replace elected governing bodies with nominated ones.
Protesters gathering for a November 10 shutdown call were stopped at the gates but they sought to remove barricades, at which the police reacted with canes.
But the protesters largely managed to overwhelm the cops and entered in large numbers to support the ongoing stir.
Why is PU seeing protests?
Protests for retaining the electoral method for choosing the university's top decision-making bodies, the senate and the syndicate, have continued, even after the central government backed down on its move to turn them into nominated bodies.
The protesters, particularly those from Punjab, saw the Centre's move as an assault on the historic university's autonomy and on the country's federal structure.
The education ministry had on November 7 rescinded its October 28 notification on the restructuring. However, the Centre’s decision did little to alter the stance of groups agitating under the banner of Panjab University Bachao Morcha.
They had announced to continue their protest until the schedule for senate elections was announced, and a shutdown call was thus given for November 10.
“The rollback means little without senate elections. The movement is about restoring democracy on campus,” former Panjab University Campus Students Council (PUCSC) president Archit Garg had told HT.
PUCSC general secretary Abhishek Daggar added, “As long as there’s no clear timeline for elections, our protest will go on.”
How Nov 10 protest became focal point
Heavy police deployment was made on and around the Panjab University campus on Monday in the wake of the wider protest call. Security personnel were also deployed at the Chandigarh-Mohali (Punjab) border points.
Panjab University Campus Students Council (PUCSC) vice-president Ashmeet Singh said all preparations have been made for a peaceful protest. He claimed that many students were being denied entry to PU.
The university authorities already announced holidays on Monday and Tuesday. Only those with university ID cards are allowed to enter the campus.
Student leader Abhishek Dagar said there will be a peaceful protest and it will continue till the senate poll schedule is announced.
What CM Bhagwant Mann, other leaders have said
Several political leaders from the ruling AAP, Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal and farmers' bodies, and artists have extended their support to the protesting students.
Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann of the Aam Aadmi Party termed the Centre's move as the ruling BJP's ploy to take control of Punjab's premier public university away from the state.
PU's current structure is seen by many as that of a hybrid Centre-state control and financing.
Also read | Punjab won’t surrender its rights: CM on rollback of PU order
Punjab minister Gurmeet Singh Khuddian, Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly and Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa, Congress MPs Dharamvira Gandhi and Amar Singh, Congress MLA Rana Gurjeet Singh and former Chandigarh MP Pawan Kumar Bansal of the Congress extended their support to the students on Sunday.
When will PU senate polls be held?
The Centre's notification amended the Panjab University Act, 1947, reducing the strength of the Senate, the apex governing body, to 31 from 91, and doing away with elections for its executive body, the Syndicate.
The previous term of the senate had expired on October 31, 2024, and the university has been awaiting the election schedule from the office of the chancellor, the Vice-President of India, ever since.
Over the past year, a draft election schedule has been sent four times to the office of the chancellor by the PU administration, but has seen no response.
Also among the leaders who visited the protest site were Harjinder Singh Dhami, president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC); Giani Harpreet Singh, president of Shiromani Akali Dal’s breakaway faction; Jalandhar Cantonment MLA Pargat Singh; former Fatehgarh Sahib Kuljit Singh Nagra and former Punjab Youth Congress president Brinder Singh Dhillon.
SAD MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal came to the site and called for “protecting the sanctity of Panjab University”, and criticised the Centre’s handling of the reforms.
Dean, student welfare (DSW), Amit Chauhan had held a meeting with leaders of various student organisations — all except the RSS-BJP-affiliated ABVP — to discuss their grievances and their plans for the November 10 university shutdown.
Chauhan had urged the students to ensure that no harm came to the university during the agitation, and assured them their concerns will be looked after by the authorities.
