‘Come back, join classes’: Summoned by Odisha govt, KIIT founder apologises to protesting students from Nepal

In a video message that KIIT released Thursday evening, Samanta issued a public apology to the parents of the protesting students from Nepal over the university’s action. He also urged the students to “come back to the campus and join classes” and that “no harm” would come to their academics. This is the first reaction from the KIIT founder since the row broke out.

The summon to Samanta assumes significance amid demand for action against him by leaders of the BJP, the ruling party in Odisha.

According to the university website, Samanta started KIIT in 1992-93 in two rented rooms with just two staff members and over a dozen students. The campus has now spread over 36-square km in Bhubaneswar with around 40,000 students from across India and 2,000 international students from 65 countries.

Around 40 percent of the university’s international students are from Nepal. Besides KIIT, he also instituted Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences, through which he claims to have provided free residential education to nearly 20,000 tribal and underprivileged kids.

Though Samanta maintains good relations with leaders from across party lines, in 2018, he joined the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), then the ruling party in Odisha, and was nominated to Rajya Sabha. A year later, the party fielded him from the Kandhamal Lok Sabha seat which he won. Samanta announced retirement from politics last June when he lost the Kandhamal seat.

Tensions have prevailed on the KIIT university campus since Sunday after Lamsal’s suicide in her hostel room. Police has so far arrested one Advik Srivastava, a resident of Lucknow and batchmate of the deceased, on charges of abetment of suicide.

The situation escalated further after the university authorities asked around 500 students from Nepal, who were protesting over the girls’ suicide, to vacate hostels Monday. The students alleged that they were assaulted by the staffers and faced abuse on racial lines.

Following pressure from various quarters — including from Nepal Embassy — the university withdrew the eviction order but most students have expressed safety concerns.

Meanwhile, police Thursday arrested five more KIIT staff members for physically assaulting the students protesting over suicide of the girl from Nepal. This brings the total number of KIIT staff members arrested in connection with the alleged assault on protesters to 10.