Wardha Hindi University protest: CJP demands withdrawal of FIRs

The Cockroach Janta Party has backed protesting students of Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya in Wardha and sought withdrawal of FIRs against six research scholars. The University defended the cases and campus restrictions, citing disruption to administrative and academic functioning

Wardha: The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has announced support for students of Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya (MGAHV) protesting against course transfers and stalled PhD admissions, and called for the withdrawal of FIRs registered against six research scholars.

CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke on Saturday said the peaceful agitation should not be suppressed through police cases, while the University defended the criminal cases and interim campus restrictions, saying the protest had disrupted its administration.

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Students of MGAHV, a central university established in 1997, launched their protest in July, with six research scholars continuing their agitation at the Wardha district collectorate.

Talking to PTI on Monday, Niranjan Oberay, a research scholar and convenor of Samyak Vidyarthi Andolan, said the University had discontinued the Women’s Studies and Film Studies courses at the Wardha campus and shifted them to its Prayagraj centre in Uttar Pradesh in 2022.

He also claimed that PhD admissions had been closed for the last four years.

In July, more than 250 students signed a petition and submitted it to the vice-chancellor and registrar, demanding the resumption of PhD admissions and the Women’s Studies and Film Studies departments, he said.

Oberay said that in August, the University lodged a police complaint against the students, following which an FIR was registered against six students, including him, at Ram Nagar police station.

The six were subsequently barred from entering the University premises, he said.

Dipke visited the protesting students at the Wardha Collectorate on Saturday and extended his support.

“These students are fighting for their rights; they are fighting for the ‘right to education’ that Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar gave them and that the Constitution guarantees, and fighting for that right cannot be a criminal activity,” the CJP convenor said, demanding the withdrawal of the FIRs.

Meanwhile, the University, in a statement, said no student or group could be allowed to disrupt its administrative or academic functioning in the name of expressing demands, lock offices, obstruct the movement of officers and staff, or damage university property.

It clarified that entry to the University campus had been restricted for the six research scholars until the disciplinary committee’s inquiry was completed.

An official said PhD admissions had resumed and that the University was deliberating on the issue of the courses shifted to Prayagraj.