By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, April 28: Police and CRPF personnel stationed inside NEHU vacated the university campus around 9:30 pm on Monday following a threat issued by North-Eastern Hill University students of boycotting classes unless they were removed.
Prior to this development, NEHUSU general secretary Toniho S Kharsati stated that if security forces insisted on staying within the campus, students would have no option but to vacate it.
Kharsati questioned whether the government prioritized student welfare or was more concerned with protecting a faculty member against allegations that have yet to be proven in court. He criticized the deployment of security personnel without proper approval or justification, pointing out that the university authorities had not issued any approval permitting police presence inside the campus.
Kharsati mocked the administration’s justification, stating that they were acting on orders from “higher authorities”.
Kharsati also questioned the necessity of deploying over 100 security personnel to protect one individual, labeling the move as an act of oppression and harassment. He criticised the patrolling of police near the male and female hostels, noting there was no valid justification for it.
He called the deployment “unreasonable” and “arbitrary”, condemning the authorities’ behaviour even after being shown the Acting Vice-Chancellor’s letter denying approval for police presence.
Following pressure from the students, Acting Vice-Chancellor of NEHU, Prof. Sherwin May Sungoh wrote to both DGP Idashisha Nongrang and East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner RM Kurbah, expressing concern over the unauthorised deployment of police and CRPF personnel within the university campus.
She highlighted that the sudden presence of security forces had triggered a “significant fear psychosis” among the campus community and requested that the deployed personnel be immediately withdrawn to restore normalcy within the university.
NEHU’s own security team will patrol the campus grounds and state police assistance would be sought immediately should any issues arise, she stated.
