Tezpur University stir enters Day 75; calls for VC’s removal grow louder

Tezpur, December 3: Tezpur University continued to reel under a deepening administrative crisis as protests demanding the removal of Vice-Chancellor Prof. Shambhu Nath Singh entered their 75th day, on Wednesday.

Students, faculty members and staff gathered once again on the Central University campus, holding placards and raising slogans against the Vice-Chancellor.

“Today, the protest has entered the 75th day and the Centre and state governments are yet to heed the crisis,” a protester said, adding that the academic environment had collapsed and that the agitation would continue until the accusations against the VC were probed and he stepped down.

Support for the movement has steadily increased over the past weeks, with several organisations, including the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), extending solidarity.

On Tuesday, AASU joined hands with Tezpur civil society groups to hold a massive torch rally demanding the immediate removal of Prof. Singh.

Hundreds of students, alumni, teachers, non-teaching staff and local residents marched through the town, shouting slogans and accusing the Vice-Chancellor of corruption, arbitrary governance and pushing the institution into administrative paralysis.

Protesters also criticised the continued silence of higher authorities, including the Union Ministry of Education, despite repeated appeals.

The crisis has now reached New Delhi’s corridors of power. Raising the issue during Zero Hour in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, during the ongoing Winter Session, Anchalik Gana Morcha (AGM) president and Independent MP Ajit Kumar Bhuyan said the premier Central institution was facing an “alarming administrative breakdown.”

Bhuyan alleged that irregularities and corruption-related claims had surfaced publicly, while the Vice-Chancellor had been absent from campus for “over two months”.

“No sincere attempt has been made to resolve the impasse,” he said, warning that the administrative vacuum had destabilised academic life.

The unrest dates back to mid-September, when students accused the VC of making insensitive remarks about late Assamese cultural icon Zubeen Garg and refusing permission for a condolence event during the statewide mourning period.

A magisterial probe was later ordered by the Sonitpur district administration.

Both the teachers’ association and non-teaching staff unions have thrown their weight behind the protests, calling the situation untenable.

So far, at least 11 senior university officials, including the PRO, Finance Officer, Registrar in-charge, deans and directors, have resigned in recent weeks citing an “administrative collapse”.

The situation escalated further on November 29 when the Tezpur University United Forum (TUUF) imposed an indefinite shutdown of the campus.

All administrative offices were locked, the main gate was barricaded and end-term examinations were cancelled.

Earlier, Assam Congress chief Gaurav Gogoi had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging urgent intervention, describing the situation as “administrative anarchy” and alleging financial irregularities under the current Vice-Chancellor’s tenure.

As the standoff deepens, pressure is mounting on both the Centre and the state government to break their silence and take decisive measures to restore order on one of Assam’s leading campuses.