The debarring of a few students of the Government Law College has turned into a bitter fight between two rival students’ outfits.
The campus witnessed unruly scenes for the second consecutive day after KSU and SFI activists demolished each others’ promotional materials including banners, posters, and flags on Wednesday.
The melee broke out despite the college being shut indefinitely following the acrimonious scenes in the campus on Tuesday over the debarring of eight fourth semester students of five-year LLB course. The protest that began after the students were barred from appearing for the exam soon turned into a spar between a section of the protesting students and an assistant professor of the college, leading to the suspension a student and prohibition of two others from entering the campus on Tuesday. All three were activists of the KSU.
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The SFI and KSU had been jointly protesting against the detention of students till Tuesday. However, the SFI kept off the protest, accusing KSU activists of misconduct and highhandedness against the faculty member despite the Principal proposing an amicable solution of taking up the cause of the detained students with the university Vice-Chancellor.
Incidentally, the meeting was called off in view of the turn of events and on advice from the higher education department not to pursue the case.
SFI activists on Wednesday took out a protest march demanding the arrest of KSU activists who allegedly manhandled the faculty member.
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Amal C.S., unit president of the SFI in the college campus, accused KSU of turning the course of the protest eyeing political gains and demolishing the organisation’s promotional materials on the campus.
Noble Kumar, unit president of the KSU, however charged the SFI with developing cold feet without any reason and taking side with the college authorities who allegedly denied students the right to appear for the examination.
College Principal A.S. Saroja accused the two students who were prohibited from entering the campus of violating it to lead the atrocities on the campus on Wednesday. She said that a police complaint had been registered in connection with the events.
Ms. Saroja said the college had decided to do its bit to present the case of detained students before the university for favourable consideration on compassionate grounds. It was then that the unfortunate incident of manhandling of the faculty member took place, she said.
Meanwhile, a Scheduled Caste student among those detained, lodged a petition with the city police alleging the faculty member involved in Tuesday’s fracas as having passed casteist remarks against him on Monday.
The KSU alleged the SFI activists of marching to the post-metric hostel to intimidate the petitioner. But the SFI denied the allegation saying that their march was against the demolition of their promotional materials on the campus by KSU activists and that it merely passed in front of the road of the post-metric hostel.
Later in the evening, KSU and Youth Congress activists took out a protest march to the campus and the college hostel against the alleged intimidation of the petitioner and the burning of their flagpole on the campus by SFI students.