AASU Condemns Varsity VCs for Signing Advert Urging Students to Leave Protests

Guwahati, December 19, 2019:

An note signed by as many 20 Vice Chancellors of Assam appeared as an advertisement in many major newspapers today, in which they urged the students to give up protests and return to their books. This has earned them the ire of All Assam Students' Union (AASU) leaders.

In the advertisement, the VCs jointly appealed to the students to return to their students ahead of the forthcoming exams (which have been postponed amid the mass protests). However, the VC's message has been vehemently condemned by the All Assam Students' Union (AASU), the most influential student body in the state.

AASU leader Dipankar Nath, during a cultural rally at Chandmari today, said that this is offensive to those who were killed during police firing. "Not once did they pay their respects to the martyrs of the movement", Nath said.

Expressing a similar sentiment, AASU Chief Adviser Samujjal Bhattacharya questioned why they had remained mum while the students were being mercilessly beaten by security personnel.

The AASU Chief Adviser further urged the 20 Vice-Chancellors to meet Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and oppose the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

The highlight of this movement has been the determination and unity shown by the students of the state. Ahead of the Bill's tabulation in the Rajya Sabha, massive protests were reported from University campuses from across the State. Students from Universities such as the ones in Dibrugarh, Tezpur, and Guwahati displayed strong resolve and determination to oppose the Bill in great numbers.

Now, with protests have spread to Universities across the country -- with students at the Jamia Milia Islamia, Aligarh Muslim University, and the

The signatories of the message are: L Ladu Singh, VC Bodoland University; Hitesh, Deka, VC Krishnakanta Handique State Open University; Dr. Malinee Goswami, VC Assam Women University, Jorhat; Dipika Deka, VC Srminata Sankardev University of Health Sciences; Diganta Munsi, Registrar Kaziranga University; Dambarudhar Nath, VC Majuli University of Culture; Prof DC Deka, VC Madhavdeb University; Munindra Kakati, VC Assam Rajiv Gandhi University of Cooperative Management; Ranjit Tamuli, VC Dibrugarh University; Prof. VK Jain, VC Tezpur University; Prof. H K Das, pro- VC Downtown University; J S Patil, VC National Law University, Assam; Prof B K Das, Bhattadev University; Prof. Pratapjyoti Handique, VC Gauhati University; Malendu Chakraborty, VC Rabindranath Tagore University; Prof. Dhiraj Bora, VC Assam Science and Technology University; S P Singh, VC Royal Global University; Ashok Bhattacharya, acting VC Assam Agricultural University; Deepak Kr Sharma, VC Kumar Bhaskar Varma Sanskrit and Ancient Studies University; Diganta Kr. Das, Registrar Cotton University.

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