By TwoCircles.net News Desk,
New Delhi: The Aligarh Muslim University and all its maintained institutions have been closed till further order with immediate effect. The decision to close down the University was taken in a consultative meeting presided by the AMU Vice Chancellor Prof. P. K. Abdul Azis. Students have been asked to vacate hostels within 48 hours from announcement of the decision.
“The Deans of faculties, Principals of colleges, local members of the Executive Council, senior professors and other University functionaries after considering all aspects including preempting any unfortunate eventuality unanimously recommended the closure of the University till further order as all the efforts made in the last four days at different levels to persuade a small band of the students sitting on Dharna and hunger strike failed,” said Dr Rahat Abrar, Public Relations Officer, AMU.
The review meeting held for more than two hours and after long deliberations the decision for closure was taken. The detail of re-opening of the University will be announced later.
Vice Chancellor Prof. P. K. Abdul Azis has appealed to the students to vacate their hostels within 48 hours from the issue of this notice and leave for their hometown. The University has made arrangement of 100 special buses for various destinations of adjacent districts and two special bogies in all the trains passing through Aligarh to eastern UP, West Bengal and towards Delhi for the students. The provosts of residential halls have also been directed to provide the fare to the students if needed. The University administration is taking the help of district administration to bring the situation to normal in the University campus and to cause least inconvenience both the University students and the general public.
Giving further details, Dr Abrar said: The senior teachers of the University were of the opinion that some anti-social and opportunist elements were trying to whip up emotions and promoting hatred against the administration with the object to destabilize the academic and peaceful atmosphere of the University. They were baseless rumours and instigating and provoking students and creating misunderstanding between the students and University administration. The ill designs of such elements came to the surface when some vested elements tried to vitiate the atmosphere of the campus last night.
On the night of October 25, a student of Aligarh Muslim University, Shahnawaz Alam was shot dead over motorbike parking row at a local restaurant near Aligarh railway station. Although the killer was immediately arrested, the killing sparked off an agitation by a small group of students that culminated into a Dharna. The University administration acting promptly offered employment to one of the near relations of the slain student and financial help to his family and tried to defuse the situation.
All efforts to negotiate with the agitating students, however, did not yield fruit. The senior teachers of the University made numerous visits to the dharna place to persuade but to no avail. The administration has also agreed to address all the legitimate demands brought to its notice in a series of interactive meetings of the Grievance Committee members with the Deans, Provost of Halls of residence and also with the Vice Chancellor, Prof. P. K. Abdul Azis.
“In view of the increasing danger of violence and breach of peace in the campus after the intervention of external forces and infiltration by anti-social elements into the students’ group, the University had to take the harsh decision to close the University to safeguard the students’ well being. The University administration was also concerned about the deteriorating health of the students who were on the hunger strike,” Dr Abrar said.