Surat: Members of maldhari - cattle rearer - community held a demonstration outside Veer Narmad South Gujarat University (VNSGU) campus here on Monday in protest against an alleged comment made by vice-chancellor Shivendra Gupta.The protesters alleged that the VC had told VNSGU syndicate member Bhavesh Rabari, who is from maldhari community, to ‘sell milk instead of doing PhD’. Rabari is also Congress councillor in Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC).The protesters poured milk at the entry gate of the university and shouted slogans against the VC and demanded his resignation and also an apology from him. Police detained a group of protesters.“The VC did not clarify when his comment insulting the community was published in local dailies. Only when we came to protest a few days later, the VC started to claim that he had never said anything of that sort,” said Shambhu alias Rakesh Maldhari, a community leader.A group of representatives were allowed to make a representation to the VC. They were also shown a CCTV footage of a camera installed in Gupta’s chamber to prove that the VC did not make any comment against the community. However, the community members were not satisfied. “We were shown some video footages of a CCTV camera but not the entire video. We could see in the video footages police disrespectfully forcing Rabari out of the VC’s office. We plan to bring our cattle on VNSGU campus for grazing since the VC thinks that maldhari community should only sell milk and not go for higher education,” said Maldhari.“I did not make any such comment. He levelled this charge against me because I had cancelled his registration in PhD. I will take legal action against those who are spreading wrong information about me,” said Gupta.The VC had allegedly made the insulting comment last week when Rabari went to inquire on what grounds his PhD registration was cancelled. The university had cancelled Rabari’s PhD registration for his failure to complete it within six years. “The VC is lying. It was a discussion of around 30 minutes. He should show the entire CCTV footage to prove his claims. He had insulted the maldhari community in the past too,” Bhavesh Rabari told TOI.

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