Former MLA, Senators join student protest at Panjab University

Former MLA and ex-president of the Panjab University Campus Student Council Kuljit Nagra, along with five Fellows of the university’s Senate, joined the protest organised by student organisations demanding elections to the governing body. Senators Shaminder Sandhu, Inderpal Singh Sidhu, Simranjit Dhillon, Sandeep Singh and Ravinder Dhaliwal joined the students, who started their march from the Vice-Chancellor’s office, sloganeering against the delay in Senate elections and hike in examination fee.

The students reached outside the administration block and were stopped by the security personnel. As of now, the students and activists have been sitting at the building’s entrance. Addressing the gathering, Sandhu said, “We all should get together and protest to protect the democratic structure of our institutions. Now, Senate has been targeted and someday, the student council may get targeted and elections to it may get cancelled as well.” Apart from Sandhu, other senators addressed the protesters gathered outside the building.

“The delay in conducting elections is an indication that the authorities are behaving in a despotic manner,” said Karan Parmar, a student activist. Anurag Dalal, the PUCSC president, also spoke in this regard.

Registrar YP Verma reached there to talk to the protesters around 2 pm. MLA Nagra reportedly asked the Registrar for a written document, stating that permission must be obtained from the Chancellor to conduct the Senate polls and claimed that the rules only required informing the Chancellor without needing permission.

It is important to note that the tenure of Senate, which was constituted in late 2021, is ending on October 31. As of now, the university has not announced the elections to the body. Five Senators have submitted a writ in the high court, demanding extension of tenure for another year, claiming that fellows were elected for four years and that the tenure was wrongfully started in back date. The university did not reply on October 14, following which, the court has asked the university to reply by October 28. If the university fails to submit a reply, an appropriate order will be passed.