Shimla: Justifying the protest of Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) student outfits, Member of Legislative Assembly Vikramaditiya Singh extended his all-out support.
Expressing solidarity, Singh on Thursday joined the on-going protest of the Congress’s students’ outfit National Students Union of India (NSUI) at the university campus.
“The university authorities were trying to suppress the students who were raising their voice for their genuine rights and this is unfortunate and against healthy democracy,” he said.
It was disturbing to see on social media the maltreatment being meted out to the students by police and the University authorities, he said, adding that his support should not be eyed as politically motivated, as being a youth leader, he has taken upon himself to stand up for the rights of the students.
“As a youth leader, it felt right for me to express my solidarity with the student organizations, struggling to assert for their genuine rights,” he said.
Condemning the university authorities and police for high-handedness, Singh said that the students irrespective of any political affiliation were being exploited and harassed.
He exhorted the various student organizations to share a common platform irrespective of their political ideologies to fight exploitation, discrimination in unison so as to create a pressure group on the university administration.
Underlining the need for equal opportunity to all, he slammed the University for adopting dual yardsticks for holding entrance exams for LLB and MBA courses, whereas selection on merit basis for all Post Graduate admissions.
He assured to take up the demands of the students’ organizations with the HPU Vice Chancellor Sikander Kumar.
Former deputy Mayor and Congress leader Harish Janartha who also joined the protests said, “The demands of the students are valid and the Congress party will fully support the students. We also urge the university authorities to consider their demands so that the peaceful academic environment of the university is not disturbed.”
All the student organizations NSUI, SFI and ABVP are agitating against the anti-student policies being adopted by the university authorities. They are pressing for entrance exams for admission to the Post Graduate courses, even as the university had announced admissions on merit basis instead.
