Tezpur University protest enters 86th day, students, faculty launch hunger strike

Tezpur, Dec 15: The crisis at Tezpur University escalated further on Monday as students and teachers began a nine-hour-long hunger strike demanding an immediate response from the Union Ministry of Education (MoE) and decisive action against Vice Chancellor Shambhu Nath Singh.

The hunger strike that began from 9 am outside the university gate was organised by Tezpur University United Forum (TUUF), a joint platform of students, teachers and non-teaching staffers under whose aegis the protests have been continuing.

“The strike aims to demand swift action from the MoE against Singh. The MoE has been ignoring the community’s growing frustration over the Ministry’s continued silence despite sustained agitation and repeated appeals,” TUUF said in a statement.

Stakeholders accused the MoE of maintaining “prolonged silence” despite sustained protests and repeated appeals.

“Since we are not getting any information from the Ministry of Education, although they promised us more than a week ago, we are sitting on a hunger strike today,” said Debasish Bhuyan, one of the protesting students.

He continued, “We have been here since 9 am and will continue till 6 pm. We hope our voices finally reach the higher authorities who have ignored us for a long time.”

Tezpur University students and faculty at the protest site on December 15 (Photo: AT)

The protestors said the hunger strike was necessitated after the MoE failed to honour informal assurances of a resolution by December 6, when a Ministry team had visited the campus.

“On December 6, a team from the Ministry of Education led by Higher Education Secretary Vineet Joshi came here, but there was no result. A response was promised before December 9, but nothing came,” said Rajen Das, a protester.

Marking the 86th day of continuous protest, students said the agitation has moved through several forms but yielded no concrete outcome.

“We have stepped into the 86th day of protest today. Earlier, we protested through music, but nobody listened. Hunger is a primal instinct. By refusing food, we are symbolically rejecting what is being imposed on us,” said Deepronil Roy, a student protester.

Faculty members, while joining the hunger strike, underlined the seriousness of the situation.

“I see this hunger strike as a purifying process. When living beings fall sick, they stop eating to recover. Our university is not well, and through this strike we are trying to restore its health,” said Vivek Kumar Mehta, a faculty member.

The stakeholders reiterated three key demands which involved immediate removal of Vice Chancellor Shambhu Nath Singh, a fair and unbiased high-level inquiry, and placing the VC on administrative leave with immediate effect.

Protesters warned that the agitation would intensify if the MoE continues to delay decisive action, asserting that the responsibility for restoring normalcy lies squarely with the Centre.

Although Dhruba Kumar Bhattacharyya was appointed as acting Vice Chancellor amid the turmoil, protesters maintain that the core issues remain unresolved.

Opposition parties have earlier demanded a time-bound CBI inquiry, while Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has urged dialogue instead of agitation.

With inputs from PTI