VIJAYAWADA:The decision to close Acharya Nagarjuna University (ANU) in Guntur for 10 days to cleanse it of anarchic elements has caught students off the guard.
The decision was taken late on Friday night after a direction from chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu following a hue and cry over deteriorating study atmosphere on the campus in the wake of suicide by B Arch student M Rishikeswari recently.
However, it infuriated the students, particularly hostel inmates, who are reported to be around 3,000 in number, and several of their representatives staged a demonstration in front of the Vice-Chancellor’s office on the campus. Before that, they took out a rally on the campus protesting the government’s decision to close the varsity for 10 days.
Decrying the decision some said it was only meant to water down the case of M Rishikeswari and demanded an open inquiry by the university-appointed fact- finding committee during the holidays.
Later, they held talks with university registrar P Rajasekhar before withdrawing their protest. When contacted, the registrar said the students, who had met him, demanded a judicial probe into Rishikeswari suicide case and opposed the ban on caste-based organisations.
“Since the decision is not in our hands, we only assured them to take their grievances and demands to the notice of the government. Meanwhile, all students have been asked to vacate hostels in view of the government’s orders for closure of the university till August 4,” he said. Later in the evening, the police removed name boards of various caste-based organisations on the campus.