Firstpost: Banaras: Wednesday, September 27, 2017.
Taking moral
responsibility for the Banaras Hindu University crisis, chief proctor ON Singh
submitted his resignation to vice-chancellor GC Tripathi on Tuesday night,
101reporters told Firstpost.
Singh's
resignation has been accepted by Tripathi, according to the report.
The
atmosphere on the campus of the iconic BHU in Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi
continues to remain tense even as Tripathi is convinced of an
"outsider" angle to the whole controversy.
Despite his
explanations, the vice-chancellor, who is in the Opposition's line of fire and
has made some controversial comments, allegedly trivialising the molestation
incident, is in the eye of the storm.
Tripathi, who
was summoned by the human resource development ministry in New Delhi on Tuesday
morning, told reporters that protests against an incident of sexual harassment
on the varsity campus escalated only due to rumour mongering and involvement of
outsiders.
The
vice-chancellor, in an interview to CNN-News18 also remained defiant that the
police never baton charged girl students at the university. Referring to a fake
image, unrelated to the incident but which was in circulation, Tripathi said
that no girl was ever beaten up at the campus. Other videos, images and the
alternative narrative emerging from the campus, however, suggest otherwise.
Tripathi assured that he is in touch with the proctor and the students and due
process will be followed to punish the perpetrators. A magisterial probe has
already been ordered.
Not a
stranger to controversy
Speaking on
the violent protests that have rocked the campus, Tripathi told The Indian
Express, that if the complaints and demands of every girl were to be listened
to, he will not be able to run the university. He later denied making the
statement in an interview to CNN-News18.
The
vice-chancellor also justified strict curfew timings in girls' hostel and
alleged gender biases by saying that the security of girls and boys can never
be at par. The statement spurred widespread outrage over Tripathi's alleged
trivialisation of an important issue. However, this wasn't the first time that
the BHU vice-chancellor was in the eye of a controversy.
Before this,
girls have alleged absurd and discriminatory restrictions in the five girls
hostels in the university, paralleling the life at BHU campus to that of the
militancy-hit state of Jammu and Kashmir, according to a Hindustan Times report.
Reports also
suggest that the girls hostel wouldn't serve meat at the students' mess because
it apparently violated "tradition". Students of the university have
also accused the administration under Tripathi of turning the educational
institution into an RSS shakha (branch). Students have alleged that girls
aren't allowed to use mobile phones after 10 pm and are not expected to step
out of hostel gates after 8 pm.
He was also
accused of culling out any voices of dissent in the university, in an attempt
to paint BHU saffron. According to a report in The Wire, he expelled a
well-known educationist, social activist and Magsaysay awardee, Sandeep Pandey,
for not toeing the Sangh Parivar’s line.
Besides this,
there were some controversies on several appointments made by Tripathi. He
appointed Satyapal Yadav and Ashok Kumar Sonkar to the Department of History at
the university, however, both these academics have been accused of plagiarism
in the past.
BHU V-C an
RSS ideologue?
Tripathi's
known links to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh have been an open secret. A
short profile of him on Business Line states that Tripathi, in a five-minute
address in 2015 espoused the RSS and VHP intellectuals, saying, "The
planet is a family. Our way of life is prescribed by sarve bhavantu sukhinah
and vasudhaiva kutumbakam." Another CNN-News18 report claims that he has
been an associated with the saffron organisation for the past four decades.
He himself
has known to be quite candid about his RSS links. According to The Wire, when
objections were raised to his use of the university as a unit for the RSS,
Tripathi said, "When the Indian government itself is of the RSS, there is
nothing wrong in establishing an RSS’ shakha in BHU."
"Tripathi
believes in a dictatorial mode of functioning and takes immense pride in his 40
years of candid association with the RSS," the article in The Wirereads.
On the question of open debates, dissent, and exploring the Opposition's view
at the university, Tripathi is proud to have prevented BHU from going the JNU
(Jawaharlal Nehru University) way.
In an
interview to The Hindu, he says that he would never allow BHU to conduct events
on "controversial and sensitive" issues and that it was his
administrative alertness that prevented the institution from going the JNU way.
Appointment
too was mired in controversy
Tripathy was
appointed the vice-chancellor of BHU on 27 November 2014 amid a host of
controversies. His appointment kicked off a conflict of interest controversy,
as the search-cum-selection committee that appointed him was headed by Justice (retired)
Giridhar Malviya, grandson of Madan Mohan Malviya, who was a long-time and
close associate of Tripathi. According to The Times of India report from the
time, Tripathi and Malviya allegedly hid the fact from the government when it
appointed the panel and Tripathi's name was shortlisted.
On its part,
the HRD ministry ignored the complaint when it was brought to its notice. A
ministry source said, "We do not interfere in the working of
search-cum-selection committees," the report further said.
The Business
Line report also said that HRD ministry also appointed Tripathi as chairperson
of renowned IIT-BHU ignoring the list of candidates put forward by the
institute. "A Google scholar search reveals no publications, citations or
papers to his name," the report said.
Besides this,
attempts to trace his past credentials only reveal that he was a professor of
economics at Allahabad University, before the current appointment. Tripathi was
also the secretary of Seva Samiti, a registered society in Allahabad. However,
apart from this, no trace of any administrative experience, which is mentioned
as a key credential mentioned in a 2014 notification inviting applications for
the post of BHU vice-chancellor, is available, at least online.
Another
report in The Wire states that the Department of Economics at the Allahabad
University fails to provide information under the RTI act regarding the
research activities of Tripathi, while he served as a professor there.
Outstanding academic record and research credentials too are one of the first
things that grab one's attention on the notification inviting application for
the BHU vice-chancellor's post.
His tenure is
due to end in two month's time on 26 November this year, according to the
Department of Higher Education website but no formal notification for the
appointment of a new vice-chancellor has come out so far. The notification for
the appointment of vice-chancellor in 2014 was released on 30 September in
2014, after which Tripathi was picked for the job.
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