Defying the order of the Governing Body (GB) chairman of Dyal Singh College sending him on “long leave”, the principal Tuesday went to college and even chaired a staff council meeting, which condemned the “humiliation” meted out to him by the chairman. The Delhi University Principals’ Association (DUPA) meanwhile said the order by the chairman was “illogical, illegal and malafide”.
GB chairman Amitabh Sinha had sent principal I S Bakshi on “long leave” alleging “financial and administrative irregularities” against him. The two have been at loggerheads over the college elections, after Sinha unilaterally overturned the college Election Committee’s (EC’s) decision to cancel the election of Rohan Awana, supposedly an ABVP member, as president.
On Monday, Sinha had shut down the college citing law and order problems, and held a GB meeting. A day later, Bakshi told The Indian Express: “I went to college today and did my day-to-day work. I had informed the university that I would be doing so.”
On Monday, he had written to Sinha: “It is to state that your allegations against me and your orders are with malafide attentions… The GB meeting that you are referring to is infructuous… I cannot accept your illegal orders.”
Staff council secretary Nikhil Jain said that in the meeting on Tuesday, the chairman was “condemned for his undue interference in the election process and arbitrarily overturning the decision of the EC”. “We also took serious exception to the humiliation of the principal by the chairman,” said Jain.
The DUPA has demanded that Sinha be removed. The Dyal Singh College Teachers’ Association (DSCTA) also held a meeting on Tuesday and demanded Sinha’s dismissal. “GB meeting cannot and has never resulted in suspension of regular work in a college besides which the said meeting itself being procedurally incorrect and hence illegal… DSCTA unanimously condemns the violence unleashed on students and teachers by the bouncers and guards, employed by the chairman DSC GB,” alleged DSCTA president P K Parihar.
Sinha did not comment on the matter.
Rajouri Garden MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa also tweeted on the matter: “Now @amitabhsinhabjp is taking revenge with the principal of Dyal Singh College I S Bakshi ji because he stood for Dyal Singh’s name. Won’t any senior leader of BJP take action against this ruthless leader, who wants to establish his supremacy hurting Sikh sentiments?”
Talking to The Indian Express, he said, “Never before in history has a college been shut to hold a GB meeting. BJP says Kejriwal is the biggest gunda. They have 28 colleges under them but no such incident has ever happened there.”
News Source (Indian Express)