Students protest after names struck off for attendance shortage

Mohit Khanna

Tribune News Service 

Ludhiana, February 28

Over 2,000 students of Guru Nanak Girls College on Tuesday staged a protest and blocked the chowk outside the college at Model Town here after the names of 50 students were struck off due to attendance shortage.

A BA final year student also attempted suicide.

A high drama took place after Shubhi Jain Rehan, a student of BA III, along with husband Abhishek Rehan, accused the principal of questioning her marital status.

“It was shocking and was not expected from a principal. Soon after we met the principal she started accusing us that we had eloped and married against the wishes of parents,” said the newly married couple.

Principal Charanjit Kaur Mahal denied the allegations.

Soon Shubhi’s family reached the college and joined the protest.

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The student, who also tried to commit suicide, said she came from a modest background. “I do odd jobs to fund my studies. My name was stuck off merely because I could not attend the college for six days. I was being pressed to pay Rs 3,500 for readmission. I don’t have the money. With no choice left, I decided to end my life,” she said.

Majority of the students whose names were stuck off were those who married recently.

The parents who accompanied the married students alleged that each time they met the principal she misbehaved with them saying they would have married off their daughters on long weekends.

Students were seen holding placards to register protest as they lay siege at Model Town Chowk.

The strike took a political turn after Gurdeep Singh Gosha of the SAD and Ajaypreet Singh, son of Lok Insaaf Party supremo Simarjit Bains, joined the protest.

Ajaypreet Singh, while demanding an unconditional apology from the principal, allegedly entered into a scuffle with a police constable.

The thee-hour-long protest intensified after students lifted the dharna and entered the college premises demanding an apology from the principal.

Earlier, students were locked in classrooms to prevent them from joining the protest. This triggered angry protests and students managed to forcibly open the doors.

Principal Charajit Kaur Mahal said they were following the university rule of maintaining 75 per cent attendance. She denied stopping any student from joining the protest.

Many students complained that they received threats from college staff and were told their names would be struck off in case they joined the protest.

Till the time of filing this report the college management was persuading the students to end the protest.