Students release ‘fact sheet’ After EFLU admin clarification

The university shared a statement clarifying their stand and calling for peace on campus

Representational image of the EFLU campus.

HYDERABAD: A day after the administration of the English and Foreign Language University (EFLU) provided clarification regarding the detention of the students and other allegations on them, the students collective on Tuesday released a fact-sheet in response. 

A dramatic series of events took place on campus on Monday when students who started a hunger strike demanding justice for the survivor who was assaulted recently on the campus and constitution of a committee to address cases of sexual harassment with student’s representation.

The university in the evening shared a statement with the media clarifying their stance and calling for peace on campus.

In their fact-check report, the students’ collective have countered several narratives of the administration.

ADMIN VERSION  

• The senior administrative functionaries of the EFLU on Monday interacted with the protesting students at the main gate, where they were staging a protest asking them to call off their protest.
• The students demand regarding the arrest of culprits is not in the hands of the university as the police are thoroughly investigating the incident
• With regard to the composition of the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC), the students claim that the chairperson holding the post of the Dean is not correct.
• Elections would be held after the completion of the Legislative Assembly elections in Telangana. Definitely, elected student representatives would be inducted into the ICC.
• On one hand, students are saying that there was no CCTV covering the area of the alleged offence and on the other hand a few say that surveillance has increased in the campus.
• With regard to the allegations of restrictions on students’ mobility and access to campus spaces, the university administration states that it is completely false.  
• With regard to the parents writing to the V-C, as reported, the university has not received any such letter so far

STUDENT’S SIDE

• The EFLU administration addressed the students only after their attempt at using police officers to foil the protest failed miserably. The proctor and the registrar did not appeal “fervently; instead, they were repeating the same rhetoric they have been saying for the last three weeks”.
• The arrest of the culprits is not the only demand that the students have asked for. Ensuring a fair investigation, repealing the false FIRs and show cause notices issued to students, the resignation of the proctorial board that downplayed the incident, the resignation of the V-C, immediate ICC elections and the removal of Annexure 5 are some of the other demands that have not been addressed so far. The fact that the administration went on to state that “the survivor could not give any clue to identify the culprits to the ICC”, displays their incompetence and apathy towards the issue.
• This narrative of the admin that the chairperson of ICC not holding the position of Dean or HOD at the time of appointment is new to the students since, to the best of our knowledge, it had not been the case. It is when the students raised concern about this fact, that the admin removed the ICC chairperson from the position of Dean. Also, it is still a grave issue that the Deputy DSW remains as a member of the ICC, which, again, goes against the UGC guidelines.
• The postponement of elections by the admin is their strategy to hold it off until the student protests are over. It is, in fact, another instance of them sabotaging democratic political practices on campus. As the proctor’s infamous snide-remark goes, “democracy can wait” on campus.
• Despite having 300 security guards and 150 cameras to cover 30 acres, the police were still incompetent in identifying the perpetrators. At the same time, they had used the CCTV footage to identify the protesting students and issue show cause notices and lodge police complaints. This clearly shows that CCTV cameras are solely here to witch hunt and penalise students and not for their safety.
• Every single day, some students or the other are disturbed by the security who ask them to leave from the place where they are sitting.We have a number of videos and photographs to show how the students’ freedom to mobility and freedom to assemble have been obstructed by the securities
• We have clear evidence of the mail they’ve sent to the administration on November 5 at 6:56 pm. Throughout these years, the administration has refused to accept grievance letters from concerned students on various issues. The ICC also has a history of refusing sexual harassment complaints against professors.