Gorakhpur: University expels 18 ABVP members for July 21 violence
Gorakhpur (UP), Jul 30: Cracking the whip after its Vice Chancellor and other officials were manhandled by protesting students, the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gorakhpur University has expelled 18 students and banned six outsiders from entering the campus.
All those who faced action are members of the RSS' student wing Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and were part of the protest against fee-hike and other issues that turned violent on July 21.
The university's chief proctor Satyapal Singh on Sunday said that the decision was taken a day earlier following reports of the Dean of Students Welfare and a judicial inquiry that had been set up to look into the incident.
"The expelled students won't be able to give examinations and also they won't get entry in the campus and the hostels of the varsity," he said on Sunday.
On July 21, as the students protested on issues like fee-hike, irregular examination schedule, problems faced by research scholars and hostel allotment, Vice Chancellor Rajesh Singh and other officials came out of their office and tried to speak to the students.
But the situation took an ugly turn with some students allegedly attacking the VC and the other officials and vandalising his office. A video clip of the incident was also shared on social media.
Saurabh Gaur, ABVP's Goraksh Prant secretary, condemned the university's action, alleging it was an attempt to snatch the right to education from the students and is not justified at all.
The problems of students cannot be resolved with the expulsion of the members of ABVP, he said, adding the protest against fee-hike and the action against students will continue.
Gorakhpur police on July 22 lodged an FIR against 22 people in connection with the incident.
It arrested eight accused for damaging public property at the VC office and beating DDU Gorakhpur University VC and teachers on July 21.
The FIR was lodged on the written complaint of the proctor of the varsity Satyapal Singh. The arrested accused have secured bail.
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Trump returns from China; terms meeting with Xi as 'G-2'
Washington (PTI): US President Donald Trump returned from a visit to China, describing his discussions with President Xi Jinping as a meeting of leaders of "two great countries".
Trump landed at the Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on the outskirts of the US capital on Friday evening, claiming to have struck important trade deals, including one for China's purchase of 200 aircraft from Boeing, with a promise for another 750, as well as agreements benefiting the American agriculture sector.
The US President reached here after a brief refuelling stop at Anchorage in Alaska.
“It’s the two great countries. I call it the G-2. This is the G-2. I think it’ll go down as a very important moment in history,” Trump told Fox News in an interview after meeting Xi on Thursday.
The Washington Post reported that Trump’s remarks put China on an equal footing with the US, exactly what Xi had aimed to achieve with the visit.
“Over two days of meetings here, the carefully choreographed pageantry and the reciprocal gestures of friendship and respect between the world’s two most powerful men displayed a geopolitical dynamic that the Chinese have long craved and Americans had resisted," the Post said.
Trump told Fox News that the relationship with Xi was important and suggested that China may not resort to any aggressive moves over Taiwan, at least till he is in office.
“It’s not a takeover. They just don’t want to see this place — we’ll call it a place because nobody knows how to define it — but they don’t want to see it go independent,” Trump said.
“I don’t think they’ll do anything when I’m here. When I’m not here. I think they might, to be honest with you,” Trump said.
"I want them to cool down. I want China to cool down," he said.
"We're not looking to have wars, and if you kept it the way it is, I think China's going to be OK with that," he added.
The US President said he had invited Xi for a visit to Washington in September.
“Xi has done something Chinese leaders have been working toward for decades — bringing an American president to Beijing as an undisputed peer,” said Julian Gewirtz, who served as China director on the National Security Council under President Joe Biden.
“Xi used the opulent optics of the visit to make clear to the world that China and the United States are the two dominant, equally matched superpowers. There is no going back.”
Trump’s friendly statements toward Xi and the Chinese people were being amplified in China’s state-controlled media, sending the message that “we’re getting along better with the Americans,” John Delury, a senior Fellow at the Asia Society, was quoted as saying by The New York Times.
It was understandable that Trump wanted to be polite to Xi, but that the American president’s gushing approach “weakens Trump and the US”, R. Nicholas Burns, the ambassador to China during the Biden administration, was quoted as saying in The New York Times.
“Xi did not hesitate to warn Trump over Taiwan. Trump should not hesitate to be frank about our concerns, too,” he said.
Trump and Xi are expected to meet at least three times this year.
The US President has invited Xi to the White House in September.
Trump may travel to Shenzhen in China for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in November. And Xi could come to the G-20 summit in December in Miami.
“This is a summit again that was heavier on symbolism than it was on substance — focus on managing problems, not on solving the problems that exist between the US and China,” said Rush Doshi, former National Security Council deputy senior director for China and Taiwan in the Biden administration.
“The way that both leaders talked about the future indicates that this is going to be part of a process that will play out this year,” said Kurt Campbell, former deputy secretary of State in the Biden administration.
