MGAHV Wardha Suspends 6 Students Who Had Written Letter to PM
New Delhi: In yet another case of crackdown on dissent in academic institutions, six students of the Mahatma Gandhi Antarastriya Hindi Viswavidyalaya (MGAHV), Wardha (Maharashtra), have been reportedly been sent suspension letters for allegedly violating university orders. All the six belong to socially marginalised sections of the society,
So, what was their crime and what order did they violate?
These six students were punished as they raised their voices against the incidents of mob lynching of Muslims and dalits, against the clampdown in Kashmir, the sell-off of public sector undertakings in a letter to the Prime Minister, says a release by the All India Students Association (AISA). One of the suspended students, Rajesh Sarthi, is a member of the organisation.
“According to the administration of MGAHV, speaking for the rights of country’s people is a violation of their orders,” said AISA.
The suspension letters to the students come close on the heels of thousands of cultural community members, writers, artists and activists writing an open letter to the PM in solidarity with 49 celebrities who faced sedition charges for raising similar issues in a letter to the PM. In a victory for the solidarity campaign, the Bihar police on Wednesday decided to withdraw the charges against these 49 eminent persons, such as film directors Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Mani Ratnam, Aparna Sen, actor Soumitra Chatterjee, Kaushik Sen, author Ramchandra Guha among others.
Read Also: More of Us Will Speak Every Day: Another 650 Add Their Names to Open Letter
Demanding that the suspension letters to the students be withdrawn immediately, AISA said “the BJP Government in the Centre does not want the people of the country to know about the dangerous design of their rule. The issues that have been pointed out in the open letters to PM are burning questions of the country right now.”
Stating the students of MGAHV, Wardha, were merely expressing solidarity with those who were raising there voices to save democracy, AISA termed the university administration’s action as “vindictive”, adding that it was trying to curtail the freedom of expression of students.
Get the latest reports & analysis with people's perspective on Protests, movements & deep analytical videos, discussions of the current affairs in your Telegram app. Subscribe to NewsClick's Telegram channel & get Real-Time updates on stories, as they get published on our website.
