Seeks cancellation of FIR against Principal, Registrar, HoD; politicians support students Neeraj Bagga Amritsar, April 29 Amid the ongoing protest of students of Khalsa College, seeking suspension and arrest of Principal, Registrar and head of the agriculture wing, faculty members have taken up the cudgels against the protesters. They held a protest against the students on the college campus here today. The students have been protesting since Wednesday after Harpreet Singh, a BSc (Agriculture) student, committed suicide for being debarred from appearing in an exam. Leaders of several political parties have also jumped in support of students, giving political overtones to the face-off between students and the Khalsa College Governing Council. Family members of the deceased, including his father Yadvinder Singh and natives of his village, also took part in the protest along with students, who sat in front of all entry points, obstructing the movement at the college. This triggered the faculty and non-teaching staff to start a demonstration against the students. They reasoned that many institutes were running from the same building. They also sought cancellation of the FIR lodged against Principal Dr Mehal Singh, Registrar Dr Devender Singh and HoD, Agriculture, Dr Randeep Kaur Bal for abetment to suicide. On the other hand, Jarnail Singh Sakhira of SAD (Amritsar), Congress leaders Raj Kumar Verka, Sukhjinder Raj Singh Lalli Majithia and Inderbir Singh Bolaria visited the students today and extended their support. Sakhira said his party president Simranjit Singh Mann would take part in the agitation on May 1. Meanwhile, the Khalsa College Governing Council (KCGC) today appointed an acting Principal and Register to ease the tension. Dr Sukhmeen Kaur Bedi, a senior Professor and Dean (Academics), has been made acting Principal. Another senior faculty and Dean (Sciences), Dr MS Batra, was appointed acting Registrar and Professor Gurdev Singh as HoD of the Agriculture Department. KCGC president Satyajit Singh Majithia and honourary secretary Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina reached out to the protesting teachers to pacify them. Following this, they lifted the dharna. The teachers gave an ultimatum to the protesting students to call off their protest otherwise they would demonstrate against them on Monday. Majithia and Chhina have appealed to the district administration to stop being a mute spectator and restore the normal academic routine at the college. “We all are in grief over the suicide by a brilliant student. The management is doing everything possible to reach out to the students to lift their dharna as their demands are being looked into,” Majithia added. The college has postponed the annual practical examination of all undergraduate and postgraduate courses scheduled to be held from April 27 to April 29, and called off its annual convocation slated for April 30. Meanwhile, uncertainty looms over the final theoretical examinations to start from May 2.

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