The Cochin University of Science and Technology ( Cusat) on Wednesday decided to indefinitely shut down its Cochin University College of Engineering Kuttanad (CUCEK) in Alappuzha district.
The move follows tension on the campus over allegations by a group of students from north Indian States that they were served beef cutlets at a seminar held on the campus on January 25.
The students staged a protest on Wednesday on the main campus of Cusat here demanding action against the Principal. However, the varsity authorities decided to close down the college indefinitely after the talks with the students failed.
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“We were ready to carry out a probe into the allegations, but the students remained adamant that it should be done while the classes remained suspended. A fair probe was not possible by collecting the views of only a section of the students. Moreover, any action could be taken only on the basis of a report prepared by a varsity-appointed committee,” they said.
The agitating students alleged that Principal N. Sunilkumar failed to exercise necessary caution against serving beef to them.
The student group, owing allegiance to the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), accused the head of the institution of having issued a stop memo against holding Saraswati puja on the campus.
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Aravind Chaudhary, sixth semester student of B.Tech. Electronics and Communication branch, said a north Indian student was suspended for organising a procession as part of the puja. He alleged that the Principal was biased against the north Indian students.
Rejecting the allegations, Mr. Sunilkumar pointed out that a stop memo was issued against holding the puja after the students called for a strike as part of the ABVP’s Statewide education bandh on January 22.
“I had given permission for the puja on the condition that classes will not be disrupted. But they violated it. Despite the strike, the stop memo was not executed and the puja was held on the campus,” he said.
The Principal said a first-year B.Tech. computer science student, who had sought permission for holding a procession as part of Saraswati puja, was suspended after the participants violated the agreement that the procession would not enter the campus. It was revoked after he gave a written apology, he said.