Allahabad University Vice-Chancellor alleges interference, backtracks
Vice-Chancellor of Allahabad University R.L. Hangloo has said that “political interference” over his handling of a students’ agitation has brought the administrative machinery of the varsity to a “standstill”.
Prof Hangloo told local reporters that Allahabad University, which is a Central university and used to be known as the “Oxford of the East”, cannot regain its lost glory if political interference continues. “If political leaders want to interfere then it would be better to have MLAs or MPs as V-Cs in place of academicians,” he said.
However, the V-C later denied his entire statement and blamed the media, particularly the TV channels, that showed him making the statement.
The vice-chancellor had apparently made these statements when asked about the university’s decision to keep offline option open for entrance tests for post-graduate courses in the upcoming academic session.
The decision, whereby the varsity reversed its earlier stance that entrance tests would be held only through the online mode, reportedly came after a meeting between some BJP MPs and Union HRD minister Smriti Irani.
The BJP MPs reportedly drew the HRD minister’s attention towards the fact that a number of student union leaders, including its vice-president and general secretary, who belong to the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad, were on a hungerstrike to press the demand for the offline option, which was important for candidates hailing from remote areas with poor Internet connectivity.
A group of BJP MPs and MLAs had visited the University on May 5 and strongly criticised the V-C for “mishandling the crisis”.
They were particularly angry over the fact that the varsity administration went on to lodge a police complaint against the union leaders when they staged a demonstration in front of the V-C office earlier this month. The union HRD Ministry is said to have prompted the varsity authorities to modify its decision. Interestingly, Prof Hangloo has been repeatedly accused by the students’ union president Richa Singh of being favourable towards those owing allegiance to the BJP and Sangh Parivar. In March, Richa Singh, who has now joined the Samajwadi Party, had alleged that the vice chancellor had ordered a ‘politically motivated’ inquiry against her on the basis of ‘flimsy’ complaints from her ABVP rivals.