LUCKNOW: Teachers, staff, resident doctors and the nursing association at King George’s Medical University (KGMU) in Lucknow have announced plans to protest against the police for not registering an FIR over the alleged ruckus at the vice-chancellor’s office on Friday.
At a meeting held on Monday, the executive committee of the university said the working style of UP State Women’s Commission vice-chairperson Aparna Yadav had tarnished the image of the state government. The committee alleged that her supporters misbehaved with Vice-Chancellor Dr Soniya Nityanand during the incident. It noted that no police action had been taken even 72 hours after the incident.
The committee warned that all OPD services, except emergency care, would be suspended if an FIR was not registered against those involved within the next 24 hours.
The ruckus broke out after a group of people, including Aparna Yadav and her supporters, entered the campus and allegedly tried to force their way into the vice-chancellor’s office. Yadav had sought a meeting with the vice-chancellor over allegations of religious conversion on the campus and the alleged sexual exploitation of two women.
Following the incident, KGMU’s chief proctor filed a complaint. University authorities said police were deployed on the campus after concerns were raised over safety.
Sources on the campus said that while the situation escalated on Friday, this was not the first time groups of outsiders had entered the campus to seek information about action taken in connection with the alleged ‘love jihad’ case. They pointed out that one of the resident doctors of KGMU, Dr Rameezuddin Nayak, was arrested by Lucknow police on Friday for allegedly attempting to forcibly convert a fellow doctor on the promise of marriage. The university administration later terminated his services.
In this case, a woman resident doctor from the pathology department had accused Dr Nayak, also from the same department, of sexual harassment and forced religious conversion. The internal Vishaka committee later found him guilty of the allegations.
“While this was the only incident of vandalism at the campus, in the past 14 days, there have been five such instances, where a group of random individuals barged into the campus seeking clarification from the administration on the alleged incident of ‘love jihad’. The recent incident of vandalism has thus raised concerns of security,” said a senior faculty member at the university.
Aparna Yadav had visited the campus following allegations that the university administration was preventing female students and faculty members from approaching the state women’s commission with their complaints. While she was waiting, several supporters allegedly attempted to force their way into the vice-chancellor’s office.
The university administration later reported vandalism on the campus and filed a police complaint, citing CCTV footage as evidence. According to university spokesperson Dr K K Singh, the employees’ union, along with the unions of resident doctors, nurses and faculty members, expressed a desire to protest over the incident. However, they were persuaded to follow the legal route, as any extreme action could adversely affect patient care.