Allahabad- A shocking video of a man wielding lathis against a student has gone viral on social media. The student in the video is Vivek Kumar, and the man wielding lathis is identified as Chief Proctor Rakesh Singh. Students have been rallying for the past two days demanding arrest of the accused under SC-ST Act.
The chain of events in this case goes back to the agitation against the disproportionate fee hike by the university administration last year. It appears that whenever a student tries to raise their voice against the university administration, they are reprimanded, and the students speaking on their behalf are also punished.
Vivek Kumar, the victim student seen in the video, is a former student of MA and serves as the President of AISA (All India Student Association) at Allahabad University.
Speaking to The Mooknayak, he said, "The Chief Proctor Rakesh Singh has harboured a grudge against me ever since he was my Hostel Superintendent. I raised the issue of the violation of reservation norms in hostel allotment, and he tried to avoid the issue. He was unhappy with my raising the issue, and on Tuesday, October 17th, when I went to him to raise the issue of the suspension of some students, he beat me brutally. Rakesh Singh has always been against SC/ST/OBC students".
He further added, "The three demands we have made are:
The suspension of Manish Kumar and Harendra Yadav must be revoked, and Harendra Yadav must be allowed to appear in the examination.
Ajay Yadav "Samrat," Satyam Kushwaha, Jeetendra Dhanraj, the students who were jailed during the movement against the fee increase, must be released.
Chief Proctor Rakesh Singh should be arrested immediately.
Vivek further added, "Despite the video being viral all over the internet, I have not been able to file an FIR. I demand that Rakesh Singh should not only be arrested but also be terminated from service , as wherever he goes, he will spread his ideology and inspire people like himself."
The Mooknayak spoke to Manish Kumar, a PhD scholar suspended by Allahabad University. He said, "The thread of events goes back to the agitation against the disproportionate fee hike. Three students belonging to the SC/ST/OBC community were falsely charged and put behind bars, where they have been for the last three months. When I raised their issue, along with the issue of providing safe drinking water for students and opening the library for 24 hours, the proctor told me that I was provoking the students, and, as a result, I was suspended and barred from entering the university premises."
Manish further says that when Harendra Yadav went at my request, he was also suspended and barred from taking the examination. He was not allowed to take the 3rd-semester exam, and he was also taken into custody and released only after a challan was issued. When Vivek Kumar, a graduate student of MA, protested against this outside the office of the Chief Proctor, he was beaten with lathis by the Chief Proctor himself.
"Today, we protested against the university administration and have demanded the arrest of the Chief Proctor under the SC/ST act," he added.
Manish Kumar stated that the three students in jail have been falsely implicated in an incident at the Sanskrit department, where some miscreants attacked the teachers of the department. The university administration has the video with them, where the accused can be identified, and the three arrested students were not even present at the scene of the incident.
It is worth noting that all the students who are suspended or in jail belong to the SC/ST/OBC category, and the actions against them have jeopardized their careers. Allahabad University is a campus known for vibrant student politics, but the recent incidents are seen as an attempt to silence the voices of the students, most of whom belong to the SC/ST/OBC categories."
Also Read-
You can also join our WhatsApp group to get premium and selected news of The Mooknayak on WhatsApp. Click here to join the WhatsApp group.