NEW DELHI: Ambedkar University Delhi (AUD) suspended 10 students, including elected student representatives, on Wednesday night amid an ongoing indefinite sit-in, with protesters alleging a crackdown by the administration and police.
According to a statement issued by the All India Students’ Association (AISA), the university’s proctor and his team served suspension letters to the students around 8 pm without prior show-cause notices or a meeting of the proctorial committee. Police personnel dragged the students out of the campus and removed protest materials, the organisation alleged.
Those suspended include current and former student council representatives from the university’s Kashmere Gate and Lodhi Road campuses, along with two first-year students. Protesters claimed that some of those named were not present during the incidents cited in the suspension orders.
The suspensions came on the 17th day of the sit-in, which began over demands for basic infrastructure, faculty recruitment, withdrawal of July 31 circulars concerning PhD attendance and event permissions, restoration of PhD fee waivers, and the opening of the main gate.
Students also alleged that security personnel assaulted protesters during a screening of the documentary Jai Bhim Comrade at the campus’s Wall of Democracy on Tuesday. They claimed that electricity was cut off and posters and bedsheets were removed. Female students also reported physical injuries and misconduct, according to the statement.
AISA further alleged that food supplies were blocked from entering the campus and that a student, Aameen, sustained a head injury while attempting to bring food inside and required hospitalisation.
Students accused the administration of refusing dialogue and targeting dissent, and vowed to continue their protest.
