Guwahati: The shutdown at Tezpur University in Assam entered its sixth day on Thursday as students continued their demand for the removal of Vice Chancellor Shambhu Nath Singh.
Meanwhile, the university’s staff rejected Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s proposal to appoint a pro vice chancellor to ease the crisis.
Students have been staging protests since mid-September over allegations of corruption and financial irregularities. They launched an indefinite shutdown of all academic activities on November 29.
A faculty member said the shutdown has been partially relaxed for the last three days, allowing departments to complete urgent work for a few hours each morning.
On Wednesday, Sarma said he had spoken to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and urged the Centre to appoint a pro vice chancellor while an impartial inquiry into the conduct of the current VC is carried out.
However, the Tezpur University United Forum (TUUF), which is spearheading the agitation, rejected the suggestion.
“The Tezpur University fraternity strongly rebuts the Assam chief minister’s recent statement regarding the ongoing crisis on the campus. His suggestion to appoint a pro vice chancellor reflects a clear misunderstanding of the movement’s long-standing and repeatedly communicated demand: the urgent appointment of an acting vice chancellor,” Tezpur University United Forum (TUUF) said in a statement late on Wednesday.
The forum accused Sarma of intervening only after the issue received national attention, questioning whether his involvement was “genuine responsibility or political self-preservation”.
TUUF also claimed that the university had been in “turmoil” for 76 days and criticised the chief minister for remaining silent despite repeated appeals and widespread disruption. “Leadership demands timely engagement, not last-minute statements,” it added.
“Our demands remain unchanged – immediate suspension of the current vice chancellor, pending enquiry, appointment of an acting vice chancellor – not a pro-VC and publication of all inquiry reports already submitted to authorities,” the TUUF added.
State Congress president Gaurav Gogoi also criticised Sarma, alleging the CM was “masking the failures” of the vice chancellor instead of supporting the university community.
“Real leadership would have meant that the chief minister would have stood with the faculty, staff and students of this prestigious university. Instead, the chief minister is masking the failures of the current vice chancellor by suggesting a pro vice chancellor,” he said in a post on X on Thursday.
Citing earlier media reports, Gogoi claimed that Singh had faced inquiries over financial irregularities during his tenure as vice chancellor of Patna University.
“It would be best that the prestige of Tezpur University should be paramount, and a new Vice Chancellor be appointed. Stop using the University of Northeast for posting controversial VCs,” the Congress deputy leader in the Lok Sabha added.
All end-term examinations have been cancelled, and most campus activities remain suspended.
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Both the Tezpur University Teachers’ Association (TUTA) and the Non-Teaching Employees’ Association (TUNTEA) have backed the ongoing agitation.
The vice chancellor has remained absent from the campus since September 22, when a confrontation with students escalated into noisy scenes, forcing him to leave the spot.
