Teachers's strike paralyses Delhi university

The ongoing teachers's strike at Delhi university has thrown its academic activities into a complete disarray.

The Delhi University Teachers Association has been on an indefinite strike since September 6, barely a few weeks after the new academic session started, to protest against Vice-Chancellor V R Mehta's 'arbitrary' suspension of law faculty Professor S N Singh.

Exasperated by the strike, some students approached the Delhi high court with a public interest petition seeking the court's intervention to break the impasse. DUTA is to file its reply on Tuesday.

Earlier, a division bench of the court comprising Justices Arun Kumar and J B Goel had asked the warring factions to resolve the controversy amicably.

"We have been forced to take the extreme step because of the VC's dictatorial attitude," DUTA president Ram Oberoi says, "We want an early negotiated settlement -- but there will be no compromise unless Prof Singh's suspension is revoked."

The VC, he alleged, had a personal vendetta against the teacher. His suspension process was completed in a hurry on August 21, within just a few hours, without even convening an executive council meeting, Oberoi charged.

Professor Singh had been charged with 'tarnishing the image of the VC'. "There were no serious allegations against him. The teacher was not given a chance to explain his position. Nor was there an inquiry of any kind into the matter," DUTA officials say.

With no end in sight to the strike, the student community is a worried lot. Many hailing from distant places have already left for their homes, as the 15-day autumn break starts on October 1.

''Our classes were in full swing when the strike applied a sudden break,'' says Hindu college's Rajarshi Chanda.

The worst affected, as usual, are those from the science stream. ''The teachers say they will take extra classes to complete the theory part of the course. But what about the practicals?" asks Abhishek Kumar.

Some teachers, meanwhile, though supporting the DUTA's cause, felt some other way for lodging protest could have been devised, rather than taking this extreme step right at the beginning.

Surprisingly, whereas classes have been crippled in all other colleges, the Campus Law Centre, the seat of the present controversy, has been functioning normally, according to Professor-in-charge Nomita Agarwal.

Meanwhile, the teachers have started a relay hunger strike in front of Professor Mehta's residence. The Delhi University Students' Union, which favours a tripartite negotiations to resolve the issue, has also pitched in with a demonstration against the VC.

UNI