Kozhikode: The National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Calicut has announced a three-day closure due to ongoing unrest at the campus prompted by the suspension of a Dalit student.
The suspension has been temporarily put on hold pending a review by the appellate authority.
The institute will be closed from Friday to Sunday, with all academic activities, including exams, placements, and interviews, being postponed until further notice, said a statement issued by the NIT Registrar. The statement also advised students to remain within their hostel premises. Security personnel were directed to maintain vigilance and restrict outside visitors without prior approval.
The notice also stated that the institution had sought police protection on Thursday considering the prevailing mobbing, and external disturbances in and around the campus. Loss of working days will be compensated through additional working days soon, the order added.
Tensions escalated after Vysakh Premkumar, a Dalit fourth-year B Tech student, displayed a placard protesting against the Ram temple consecration in Ayodhya. Vysakh was suspended for a year on Wednesday by the Dean of Students' Welfare accusing him of provoking an 'unlawful gathering', which resulted in 'campus unrest' on January 22.
The suspension had led to widespread protests on the campus with the participation of all major students' unions, including SFI, KSU and the Fraternity Movement. A large number of students also staged a sit-in at the main entrance late into Thursday night prompting the authorities to put Vyshak's suspension on hold until the appellate authority came into a decision. The protests by students even caused clashes with police forces.
In the aftermath of these events, the institute's annual techno-management fest, Tathva, and the cultural festival, Ragam, have been indefinitely postponed.
Onmanorama had reported the incidents on January 22 when a few students of the Science and Spirituality (SNS) club protested the celebration of the Ayodhya event on the campus with placards that read 'India is not a Rama Rajya'. Vysakh and another student Kailas were allegedly assaulted by a pro-Hindu group that shouted 'Jai Shri Ram' and painted a saffron map of India on the campus.
