VC asked to take moral responsibility, consider students’ demands
Shillong, Nov 11: Further strengthening the ongoing protests at North Eastern Hill University (NEHU), traditional chiefs from Khasi and Jaintia Hills have asked the NEHU vice-chancellor to take moral responsibility of the ongoing stalemate and consider the demands of the agitating students.
The headmen under the banner of Synjuk Ki Nongsynshar Shnong Ka Bri u Hynniewtrep (SNBSH) also urged the state government to take proactive steps to solve the crisis and not leave the central university to its fate.
“We urge the Vice Chancellor to take moral responsibility for the entire NEHU crisis and consider the demands. The VC might have all the best intentions in the world but he is too late and has already missed the bus,” said RL Blah, general secretary of the Synjuk, in a statement.
Urging to the VC to handle the issue with sensitivity and responsibility, the Synjuk said, “This is not just an appeal but a point of great concern from all of us responsible citizens and community leaders watching the ugly turn of events in the university over these few months.”
The traditional chiefs also sought the intervention of the governor to take note of the situation and apprise the Central authorities for early resolution of the issues.
The Synjuk sought to blame the NEHU authorities for its “decline” in academic rankings among universities, saying, “It is pertinent to note that there could never be ‘a smoke without a fire.”
“Thus, it would not be wrong for a layman like us to think that the management had failed in its task to uplift the institution, hereby affecting the future of our young and budding students on whose shoulder the future of the families, the society, the state and the nation lies,” it stated.
Recalling his recent speech at 51st foundation day of NEHU when he had hinted at the university’s lacunae, Blah said, “Now that the matter has become public, the SNSBH stands in solidarity with all the immediate stakeholders of NEHU, especially the agitating students…”
