TIRUCHY: The protest by students of the Tamil Nadu National Law University in Tiruchy against the alleged sexist remarks of vice chancellor V Nagaraj continued for a second day on Friday, even as 12 class representatives who attended a meeting with him submitted their resignation to the university officials.
In their resignation letter, the representatives said the V-C had remarked they had “misunderstood” his comments made during the April 15 meeting and conveyed them to the larger student body by interpreting it differently. The class representatives said this had undermined their credibility among students.
In a video of the V-C addressiung protestors on Friday night, he is heard saying that with the representatives stepping down, there was currently no formal student representation. He asked students to submit their demands in writing and said he would respond within a day or two. He added any decision would rest with the university’s governing council and would be subject to judicial review.
During the interaction, the V-C also alleged some students were behaving like “rowdies”, a remark that drew sharp reactions from the protesting students.
Meanwhile, the students maintained that the protest had been peaceful. They resumed their protest around 5.30 pm after classes near the administrative block, with the V-C meeting them around 8.45 pm.
The agitation had intensified after he left the campus around 10 pm on the first day without issuing an apology, prompting students to continue their protest.
The protest stems from the alleged remarks made by the V-C during the April 15 meeting with class representatives, where he is accused of linking women’s attire to sexual harassment and describing it as a distraction.
The students have strongly condemned the remarks, demanding a public apology, an institutional inquiry, and a formal clarification that clothing choices do not contribute to harassment.
They also reiterated their demand for a student representative body, stating the absence of such a forum has left their concerns without a structured platform. University officials, however, have maintained that the comments were taken out of context.