Varanasi: ‘No conspiracy, campus clashes just coincidence’

VARANASI: The chief proctor of BHU, Prof O P Rai, termed the sudden outbreak of a series of protests and clashes on campus as mere coincidence, and said though the incidents took place one after the other in a short span of time, but he doesn’t see any conspiracy to vitiate the atmosphere in the university behind it.
Talking to TOI over the incidents that kept the university in limelight due to wrong reasons, Rai said, “We are a big family, comprising thousands of students, teaching and non-teaching staff, and untoward situations do occur at times.There were specific reasons for the incidents that took place in the past fortnight and the varsity tried to tackle them effectively.”
“First, the resident doctors went on strike when a junior resident was attacked by attendants of a patient. Their concerns about their security are quite legitimate, and the varsity is working to tackle it on priority,” he said.
The inmates of two hostels clashed leading to violence. We called police to control the situation. We got the LBS hostel vacated to prevent a flare up but the inmates staged a sit-in at the main gate. We took a sympathetic view of their concerns since semester exams are approaching and assured to re-allot rooms from Sunday, said Rai.
“We also made arrangements for over 25 inmates since they did not have any alternative place to stay. The students of SVDV faculty are continuing their protest but their demand is illogical. The varsity administration is trying to tackle the situation,” he added.