BUIT stalemate on, gates stay locked

BHOPAL: The shutdown by students of Barkatullah University Institute of Technology (BUIT) continued for the second day on Saturday, with students refusing to unlock the gates and teachers tacitly supporting them.
The students have refused to negotiate and insist that the authorities give a written undertaking that basic facilities - like proper blackboards, lab equipment, and hostels that don't look like reptile nests - will be provided and teachers will be paid salaries.
Neither teachers nor other staff were allowed into the college premises. The sloganeering started around 10am. BUIT director Prof A K Pathak arrived and tried to convince the students that their issues would be resolved. He requested the students to open the gates, but they refused to budge.
Then a group of students headed for the administrative building of university, where offices of vice-chancellor M D Tiwari and registrar H S Tripathi are located. They demanded that the VC should come out of his cabin and meet them. Police arrived and locked the gates to prevent students from entering the VC's office. This time the cops were armed with proper lathis and lengths of colourful PVC pipes that they did on Friday.
Tension boiled over and the students tried to break down the gates with blocks of cement. Before they could succeed, police stepped in. Students blocked all the exits and continued to raise slogans against the vice-chancellor.
The VC came out to meet the students. He admitted that their demands were justified and promised amends.
Students weren't convinced and gave him till Monday to take a final call. "We urged the VC to give his assurances in writing by Monday. If he fails to do so it would invite trouble . We will unlock the college gates only after the VC gives us in writing on Monday. Till then we will not hold any protest," they said. A teacher said: "We support their protest. The students have taken the right decision to lock the gates as they had no other option ."