Ludhiana: The vice-chancellor of Ludhiana-based CT University, Nitin Tandon, resigned on Tuesday after facing protests from Kashmiri students, who alleged they were not being given proper food for iftar and sehri during Ramzan, and accused the V-C of threatening to remove them from campus when they complained to him.
CTU chancellor Charanjit Singh Channi said the V-C was asked to resign for using an abusive word against the students.
The administration has ordered a probe, Ludhiana deputy commissioner Himanshu Jain said. "After the V-C's resignation, the students are pacified. Jagraon SDM has been asked to submit a detailed enquiry report on the incident," he added.
TOI tried to contact Tandon for his views, but calls and messages went unanswered.
CTU dean (student's welfare) Davinder Singh said, "The vice-chancellor has sent his resignation, as the students demanded. The authorities are providing food to Muslim students for Iftar. They were demanding additional food items, such as dates and fruits. The authorities will arrange those too."
CTU, a private university, is around 35km from Ludhiana. According to the students, they used to get appropriate food for Iftar earlier but faced problems this year.
One of the protesters said, "For the past five days, we have been requesting the authorities to arrange food for us, but to no avail. On Monday evening, too, we did not get proper food for Iftar. In protest, we locked the hostel's mess. V-C Nitin Tandon arrived, and we shared our issues with him but he hurled abuses at us and threatened to make us vacate the college."
Students launched a protest on the campus that lasted well into Tuesday morning. A purported video clip of the incident, showing Tandon allegedly misbehaving with the students, was circulated on social media.
Aftershocks of the controversy were felt across state borders and Kashmir-based student leaders and politicians, including People's Democratic Party leader Iltija Mufti, shared the video.
Tagging the Punjab CM and DGP, Iltija Mufti posted on X: "Dear Bhagwant Mann ji do you endorse the vice-chancellor of CT University Punjab abusing and bullying Kashmiri Muslim students only because they requested food for Iftari and Sehri since it's Ramzan? Shocked that assaulting Kashmiris has been normalised even in a state like Punjab. We request strict action against the V-C. Anything else is mere lip service."
On Tuesday morning, Maulana Mohammad Usman Rahmani went to the university. So did Ludhiana police and administrative officials.
The Maulana told TOI: "The students were requesting for Iftar food, but arrangements were not made. As students locked the mess, the vice-chancellor used abusive language against them. Though I tried to pacify them, students demanded the V-C's resignation. With the intervention of the university's chancellor, the V-C was made to resign. The matter is resolved as the university has assured to arrange food for Muslim students who are observing Roza."
Channi said, "The students had to open their fast for which they went to the mess. They required some food items which could not be provided in time. Angry over this, they locked the mess. The vice-chancellor went to the spot and asked the students to talk it out and unlock the mess. They had a verbal spat during which the V-C used an abusive word, which is wrong. The students were adamant on the resignation of the V-C, therefore I requested him for it. The V-C has given his resignation and the agitation has ended."
Asked if Tandon could be reinstated, the chancellor said, "Police and district administration are enquiring into the matter. Moreover, the video of the V-C is only a few seconds long and not in continuation, so we do not know what exactly happened. The authorities will investigate it first."
Pro V-C Simran Gill has taken over the V-C's duties for now.
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