The Naga Students Union, Shillong (NSUS) has alleged that North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) Vice Chancellor Prof Prabha Shankar Shukla is covering up facts about the ragging of a first-semester student through “deception and inaction.”
According to the union, the VC has washed his hands off the case when he reportedly told a group of Naga students during a meeting held yesterday, that the matter is out of his hands after a FIR was lodged with the West Garo Hills police.
The union said, in fact the FIR lodged on October 14 was not from the VC but by NEHU, Tura Campus Director Prof Sujata Gurudev. They said that the VC even took a u-turn from the earlier decision taken during a meeting with the Registrar on October 16.
During the meeting it was decided to hand over a copy of the FIR, report compiled by fact-finding committee and an endorsement that NEHU is committed to take appropriate measures in strict compliance with the UGC Anti-Ragging Laws. However the union said, the VC tagged those documents as “official and confidential.”
The union added there is no legality that states an FIR has to be hidden or remain undisclosed from the public or the victim’s family.
“Having caught the VC in his own lies and false promises, it has brought us to legitimately doubt his sincerity to solve this case and bring justice to the victim. One can also further assume that the VC is defending the perpetrators and he himself is a supporter of ragging,” the NSUS said.
The NSUS further objected to the “callous and casual nature” of the remarks made by the VC when asked about NEHU’s plan to aid the student victim.
The VC had reportedly told the students that the family has to handle the situation and that the boy has to, after some point of time, come out of his trauma. When the students objected to these remarks, the NSUS said the VC said the university will assign an MBBS doctor to counsel the victim.
“We must point out that the VC does not seem to know the difference between a psychological counsellor and a medical doctor. Hence, with much disappointment, the VC has, by himself, proven that he is not taking this case seriously at all, and actually moving to cover up the facts through deception and inaction,” the NSUS lamented.
Questioning the VC’s efficacy the NSUS said, “If he continues to refuse to fulfil the charter of demands, we have no choice but to put the matter into the hands of the law and justice system, as well as physically mobilize in numbers.”
