The students started an indefinite hunger strike on Monday.
Guwahati:
Students of the National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Assam’s Silchar have written an open letter to President Droupadi Murmu, seeking urgent action to resolve the escalating crisis at the premier college.
The students, who started an indefinite hunger strike on Monday, are demanding the resignation of the dean of academics over his alleged role in the suicide of a student recently.
“As a concerned student of NIT Silchar, we write to you with an increasing sense of urgency and desperation. The situation within our institution has escalated to an alarming level, necessitating your immediate intervention to prevent further harm. The actions and attitudes of Us college administration has plunged the campus into a state of chaos, causing widespread unrest among students,” the letter said.
Electrical engineering student Koj Buker, from Arunachal Pradesh, was found dead in his hostel room on September 14.
The students allege that Buker was not allowed to attend classes in the fifth semester and was repeatedly insulted by the Dean of Academics, BK Roy, in front of the other students a few days ago.
The letter further added, “The Dean Academic has been harassing students since the beginning of his tenure. This also illustrates that Principal Dilip Kumar Baidya has been incompetent and failed miserably during his tenure,” the letter said.
Last Friday, the students clashed with police during an aggressive protest, forcing police to resort to lathicharge injuring 40 people.
“We demand that the board of our college offer the parents of Koj Buker appropriate compensation, be it in the form of financial help, legal assistance or security in any form. Since the protest was initiated by the members of the government, any student who happens to be involved in the protest should not be punished or face any form of legal consequences in any form,” the report said.
The classmates alleged that the Dean of Academics had insulted the victim who had fallen six backlogs in his first semester exams, which were conducted online in 2021, due to the pandemic.
Due to the Covid lockdown, the victim was at home and could not attend the online classes due to lack of internet connection, which they said led to backlogs.
He had called on the authorities to conduct a special investigation so that he could clear the backlog, but the Dean of Academics allegedly would not have allowed this.
After this incident, he locked himself in his room and was later found dead.
