NEW DELHI: In a fresh round of disciplinary action, Ambedkar University Delhi (AUD) has suspended five more students for allegedly obstructing university officials from performing their duties during a protest on campus.
The students had attempted to meet the vice-chancellor on Friday to raise concerns about the earlier suspension of three fellow students, who have been on a hunger strike since Tuesday. With this, a total of eight students have been suspended in connection with the campus protest.
According to the suspension order, the students are accused of attempting to physically assault the VC, obstruct public servants, and endanger the lives and safety of university officials. All five are members of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI).
The SFI has rejected the allegations, stating that the students were peacefully seeking dialogue and were met with force. In a statement, it claimed that university guards and police personnel used physical force against the protesters, some of whom were also injured. One student reportedly fainted due to heat and exhaustion during the hunger strike, it said.
The hunger strike was launched on April 9 to demand the revocation of suspensions issued earlier against three students for posting details of an alleged ragging case on social media. The university said those posts violated privacy norms and could compromise the safety of the complainant. The suspended students have argued that they were only raising concerns about harassment that the university had failed to address.
The incident in question involved a first-year student who was allegedly bullied by classmates, mocked in class and targeted through memes in a WhatsApp group. Student groups claimed the harassment drove the complainant to attempt suicide on Feb 22, though the university later said it found no evidence of that.
While six other students, including some named in the original complaint, have since had their suspensions revoked, the three SFI members remain barred from classes. They challenged the suspension in court. The next hearing is on April 15.
On Saturday, the hunger strike entered its fourth day, with students demanding the immediate withdrawal of all suspension orders and a revocation of what they describe as a de facto protest ban on campus.
