South Asian University orders Mumbai student to vacate hostel for allegedly instigating students
New Delhi: South Asian University (SAU), an international institution established by the eight member nations of the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC), has ordered a female student, Yashada Sawant, to vacate her hostel room within two days. The administration accuses her of "spreading rumours and lies and instigating students against the university.", a report published in Maktoob Media stated.
Yashada Sawant, a second-year postgraduate student from Mumbai, told Maktoob that she has not been provided with any further details regarding the accusations. With the deadline for vacating the hostel ending on Wednesday, Sawant has decided not to move out, citing her lack of a local guardian in Delhi.
Sawant, 25, stated that she had merely discussed the resignation of a senior faculty member with classmates and friends on a WhatsApp group. She recounted receiving a call from the Dean of Students’ assistant later that day, asking her to attend a meeting. During the meeting, Sawant was accused of "instigating" students, but she claims that no evidence or basis for these allegations was provided. She requested a proper inquiry, noting the absence of both the Proctor and the Dean of Students during the meeting.
Sawant told Maktoob, “They were only threatening me and not giving any proof or evidence for such allegations. After the meeting, I got an email stating that I have to vacate the hostel in two days. I don’t know how someone can make such a judgement without any inquiry.”
Maktoob said it has reviewed email correspondence between Sawant and a faculty member, in which Sawant requests a formal inquiry into the allegations before any action is taken. Despite the request, the faculty member stated that the decision to expel her from the hostel remains, without acknowledging the call for formal proceedings. SAU administration has not issued any public statement beyond the notice.
The Rokeya Collective, a student group at the university, issued a statement condemning the move as “a grave miscarriage of justice and a blatant abuse of administrative power.” The statement also highlighted past instances where students were allegedly targeted by the administration without cause. “In the past, we have seen the University administration unjustly target students like Apoorva YK, Bhimraj and Umesh Joshi, who took their cases to the High Court of India. In each of these cases, the students prevailed, and the court’s rulings unequivocally demonstrated that the South Asian University had misused its power and harassed students without any legitimate reason. These repeated judicial rebukes highlight a persistent pattern of misconduct by the University’s Administration,” the statement reads.
Earlier this year, the Delhi High Court overturned SAU’s November 2022 decision to expel two PhD students, Umesh Joshi, Apoorva Yarabhally, and Bhim Raj, for their involvement in a protest demanding a stipend hike in 2020.
In 2023, four professors from the institution faced accusations of “running a Marxist study circle and inciting student protest on campus” and were suspended over allegations of misconduct. These professors, along with nine other faculty members, had protested the university's decision to bring in police during a student protest.
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Five killed in fresh violence in Manipur's Jiribam
Imphal/Kolkata (PTI): Five people were killed in fresh violence in Manipur's Jiribam district on Saturday morning, police said.
One person was shot dead in his sleep while four others were killed in subsequent exchange of fire between armed men of two warring communities, a police officer said.
Militants entered the house of the person who lived alone in an isolated location around 5 km from the district headquarters and shot him dead in his sleep, he said.
After the killing, a heavy exchange of fire broke out between armed men of the warring communities in the hills around 7 km from the district headquarters, leading to the deaths of four armed persons, including three hills-based militants, the officer said.
Further details are awaited.
Earlier this week, fresh arson broke out in the district after suspected "village volunteers" burnt down an abandoned three-room house of a retired police officer at Jakuradhor in Borobekra police station said.
Tribal body Indigenous Tribes Advocacy Committee (Pherzawl and Jiribam) denied any involvement in the incident.
The district witnessed fresh violence despite representatives of the Meitei and Hmar communities reaching an agreement to restore normalcy and "prevent incidents of arson and firing" in a meeting held at a CRPF facility in adjoining Assam's Cachar on August 1.
In the meeting moderated by the Jiribam district administration, Assam Rifles and CRPF personnel, and representatives of Hmar, Meitei, Thadou, Paite and Mizo communities of Jiribam district were also present.
The agreement was, however, denounced by several Hmar tribal bodies based outside Jiribam district saying they did not have any knowledge about it.
More than 200 people have been killed and thousands rendered homeless in ethnic violence between Imphal Valley-based Meiteis and adjoining hills-based Kuki-Zo groups since May last year.
Ethnically-diverse Jiribam, which was largely untouched by ethnic violence in Imphal Valley and adjoining hills, erupted in violence after a 59-year-old man belonging to one community was killed allegedly by militants of another community in June this year. Thousands had to leave their homes and relocate to relief camps due to incidents of arson by both sides. A CRPF jawan was also killed in an ambush by militants during patrolling by security forces in mid-July.
