Four days after the Mahatma Gandhi Antarashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya, Wardha, expelled six Bahujan students for writing a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the college, on October 13, revoked the expulsion order.
The order came into effect as the students, the circular says, “violated the model code of conduct (MCC)” ahead of the assembly elections in Maharashtra.
The decision came a day after Wardha’s collector, Vivek Bhimanwar, directed the college to revoke the order saying it had no authority to cite the MCC for activities held inside the college campus, the Indian Express reported.
As a result, on October 13, the college’s vice chancellor, Rajneesh Shukla, called a meeting with the executive registrar Kadar Nawz Khan, the deans of all departments, proctor and five wardens of the hostel to take a final call on the matter.
“In view of the technical contradiction in the letter dated October 9, and also to provide natural justice to students and researchers, the expulsion of the six students is being revoked,” the university said in a statement.
On October 9, the students had gathered inside the campus to commemorate Dalit leader Kanshi Ram’s death anniversary and to send postcards to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on rising cases of mob-lynching, violence against Muslims and other minority communities, privatisation of the railways and airports and the reading down of Article 370 in J&K. Later that night, six Bahujan students – Chandan Saroj, Rajneesh Kumar Ambedkar, Vaibhav Pimpalkar, Rajesh Saarthi, Neeraj Kumar and Pankaj Bela – received the expulsion order.
Also read: Postcards of Protest: Students of St Stephen’s Write to Modi
After the revocation, the six students have now released a joint statement calling it a ‘victory of the constitution, democratic rights and justice system.’ The students also alleged that the college administration tried several ways to intimidate them after issuing the letter of expulsion. They, students say, peddled lies in the media and also turned a group of university students against them.
The registrar told the Indian Express that the main reason behind expelling the students was the violation of law and order. “They were refused permission for the programme and yet they gathered to hold it. That reason continues to hold,” he said.
The students denied the allegation saying it was their basic right to organise a demonstration inside the campus and the college cannot – as also noted by the district collector – impose the model code of conduct inside the campus.