BHU protests: Chief proctor resigns, NHRC notice to vice-chancellor
BHU clashes
The chief proctor of the Banaras Hindu University resigned 'taking moral responsibility' for the protests sparked by the lathicharge of a group of girls by policemen
The chief proctor of the Banaras Hindu University, ON Singh, has resigned "taking moral responsibility" for the protests sparked by the lathicharge of a group of girls by policemen following the alleged molestation of a woman student in the campus.
Dr Mahendra Kumar Singh has been appointed the new chief proctor of the university.
The chief proctor resigned last night (Tuesday). His resignation has been accepted by the university's vice-chancellor Girish Chandra Tripathi.
On Tuesday, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued a notice to the chief secretary of Uttar Pradesh, the state's Director General of Police and the BHU vice-chancellor seeking a detailed report on the incident and asked them to submit their response within four weeks.
The NHRC said it had taken Suo motu cognisance of the "unwarranted manhandling and thrashing of agitating students, mostly women, by the UP police."
BHU vice-chancellor GC Tripathi has denied that the student of the university was sexually harassed. He, instead, dismissed the incident as a simple case of "eve teasing".
In interviews to two media outlets yesterday (September 26), the vice-chancellor alleged that the incident was "deliberately" planned a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to his home constituency Varanasi.
A judicial inquiry has been initiated to probe in the violence in the university, Uttar Pradesh Cabinet Minister Shrikant Sharma said on Monday.
A number of students were hurt when clashes broke out between the police and students of BHU after the students started protesting against the alleged molestation of a girl on September 22.
Tensions worsened after a mobile video surfaced, showing a policeman charging towards women protesting at a hostel and two others beating a woman student protesting at the gates of a hostel.
The violent protests inside the campus have been criticised by the Congress party which has asked PM Modi to apologise to the girls who were mercilessly lathi-charged by the police.
"The prime minister should first apologise to the girls in BHU, because despite being there, he did not care to ask why the girls were protesting," Congress leader Mohan Prakash told ANI.