Defying a university circular ordering bringing down of ‘unauthorised’ structures in the Shopcom area, a section of University of Hyderabad (UoH) students erected tents again here on Monday.
The move by the Students’ Joint Action Committee (JAC) came after a notice was sent by the varsity to the Students’ Union president on May 20. The tents were erected by research scholar Rohith Vemula along with four others after they faced disciplinary action. Later, Rohith committed suicide and the whole area was transformed into a protest venue. Earlier in April, a meeting of deans of schools had recommended removal of ‘unauthorised structures’ from the Shopcom area. “The tents have collapsed four times due to heavy wind and rain. Each time, we had to dry them up and put it up again,” said Arpita Jaya, a JAC member. When contacted, a senior UoH official said the notice was addressed to the Students’ Union president Zuhail, who is currently out of station. “It has to technically reach him. And I was told that the vice-president met with an accident and has been admitted in a hospital. So the notice has not been served as such to anyone,” he explained. The official added that if students refuse to heed the varsity’s decision, the tents would be taken down by the security personnel.
