R’rata Univresity hostage-takers win the day, free VC and dons
June 27, 2014, 10:41 pm , the island
The VC coming out of the Administration Building
By Percy Kuruneru, Anuradhapura Corr
Rajarata University’s Vice Chancellor Prof. Ranjith Wijewardena and a group of academics held incommunicado for more than 24 hours by a group of undergraduates were released yesterday.
The undergraduates who defied a directive of the university administration that the campus premises were out of bounds for them following an incident which had happened the previous day remained inside the university and resorted to hostage taking on Thursday.
Over 500 members of the police anti-riot squad were summoned to the university, but they were not used to end the hostage drama.
Unrest prevailed in the university following protests mounted by students over an alleged delay on the part of the administration to redress nine grievances and preventing the seniors from participating in a ceremony to welcome new batch of students at the Management Faculty. The senior students surrounded the administrative building while the Vice Chancellor was holding a meeting with senior academics there on Thursday and did not let them come out.
Vice Chancellor and academics held four rounds of talks with protesting students but in vain.
Thereafter Chairman of Rajarata University Teachers’ Association Ven. Olangamuwe Gnanasara Thera intervened and obtained a letter from the students addressed to the Vice Chancellor. The Vice Chancellor in return promised in writing to the students that he would take up the students’ grievances at the next Senate Meeting. Thereafter the protestors let the Vice Chancellor and academics leave the building.
The students’ letter contained several demands including the revoking of suspension of classes of 27 student activists unconditionally, and permitting those students to enter the university premises.
Subsequently, the Vice Chancellor told the media that the university had been closed until further notice and the date of reopening would be informed after a meeting with all the members of the academic staff of the university.
