Pondicherry University suspends 11 students for five years for protesting fee hike

All those students who have been suspended have been asked to pay a fine of Rs 10,000, and have also been barred from taking admission for the next five years in the varsity. 

Pondicherry University has suspended 11 students for taking a part in a protest one year ago against the fee hike decision taken by the varsity. All those students who have been suspended have been asked to pay a fine of Rs 10,000, and have also been barred from taking admission for the next five years in the varsity.  All the suspended students have been banned from entering the University premises too. 

In a letter issued to the students on December 22, stated that "The recommendations of the Disciplinary Committee have been approved by the competent authority for taking action against you for participating in the protest held on February 6, 2020, in the Administrative Building of Pondicherry University."

Prior to this, a show-cause notice was sent to the concerned students in August wherein the authorities demanded an explanation for "unruly and unlawful behaviour" as students had gheraoed Vice-Chancellor Gurmeet Singh during the protest. 

While the protest was joined by hundreds of other students, the eleven have been suspended as they were the most active participants. One of the suspended students and the president of PU Students' Council, Parichay Yadav, pointed out that a gherao is a popular form of protest and it is common for it to happen. "We gheraoed an authority so that he could listen to our demands. It was very democratic and nothing aggressive or violent happened." 

The PUSC led the protest against the large-scale fee hike a year ago but then recalled it after the matter went to the Madras High Court.

"We were fighting a legal battle so we had to withdraw the strike," Yadav said. The verdict in the case remains pending even now.  "This comes while the case is still going on in the Madras High Court. This is not just insensitive, it is a revenge that the university administration is taking on students for raising their voice," he said. 

The Students' Federation of India has taken to the streets as of December 23, they will be protesting outside the university until it takes back the suspension order. "

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