BHOPAL: As many as 23 students of Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism and Communication who recently indulged in violent protests on the varsity campus demanding suspension of two adjunct professors have been expelled till further orders.
According to order issued in this regard by the in-charge Registrar Deependra Singh Baghel, all the 23 students have been expelled till further orders following the recommendation by the University’s Disciplinary Committee.
Out of the 23 expelled students, 11 are students of Journalism Department (three of them being MA students) and eight are students of Electronic Media department.
The expelled students had reportedly protested on the varsity campus recently, demanding suspension of two adjunct professors, Dilip Mandal and Mukesh Kumar over the duo’s alleged caste bias on social media, classrooms and public forum.
While the agitating students had claimed their protests was non-partisan, a group of students supporting the two adjunct professors had alleged BJP and RSS backing behind the protests against the two adjunct professors.
On December 13 late evening, the Bhopal police had entered the varsity campus and forcibly brought the students staging sit-in protest outside the varsity’s Vice Chancellor’s office, just a few hours before the examinations were to start in the varsity. Some agitating students had also indulged in violent protests on varsity campus the same evening.
While the Bhopal Police had on December 14 registered case against 10 of the agitating students and others, the entire episode the students who indulged in violent protests was referred to varsity’s disciplinary committee.
The committee after probing the entire sequence of events and examining video footage, recommended the varsity to act against the 23 students.
According to the order pertaining to the 23 students’ expulsion from the varsity, the expelled students will not be allowed to attend classes or appear in examination till they stay expelled.
Meanwhile, the BJP has latched onto the issue following expulsion of the 23 students.
Former MP CM and BJP national vice president Shivraj Singh Chouhan tweeted on Tuesday evening, “We won’t allow the conspiracy to gag the students voice and ruin their future. I demand that all rightful demands of the varsity’s students be met and their expulsion be revoked.”