AMU violence: Disgruntled launching smear campaign

Referring to the violent clashes that took place between two groups on the campus last Saturday, the V-C said it was a case of sudden, abrupt vandalism, hooliganism and violence committed by a handful of students in collusion with some expelled former students and non-student criminals.

Read | Aligarh Muslim University VC demands CBI inquiry into campus violence 

Shah has been accused by the AMU Teachers’ Association of failing to control the proliferation of criminal gangs in the campus in the past couple of years.

In the letter, Shah said if charges against him are proved, he will have “no moral authority to continue to remain at the helm of this great seat of learning”.

Read | AMU violence: Police ask for video clips 

It was even more unfortunate, he said, that the “internal disturbance” had come at a time when the university was facing a “major threat” to its identity as a minority institution.

[related-post]

Shah said AMU was making progress towards becoming a top institution, even as “inimical parties are making an attempt to take away this institution from those who established it”. He stated that the recent “deplorable” incidents on the campus have brought the glorious institution to disrepute and calls for immediate remedial actions and introspection on their part. “I appeal to parents in particular to infuse morals and values into their children. We need an effective tarbiat (moral teaching) at home, religious teaching, moral code and rule of law,” he said, while adding that the teachers have also to bear the same responsibility.

The V-C said the university would be introducing strict guidelines for maintaining discipline in all halls of residence, and announced that after 12 midnight all entry and exit points in the campus “would henceforth be closed”. He added that good, law-abiding behaviour was essential for their own survival.

The AMUTA also alleged that last week’s violence was the fallout of a “power struggle” within the administration.

With inputs from PTI