No politics at cost of studies, warns CM

SHIMLA: Sending a strong signal to both students as well as the teaching community that political indulgence at the cost of studies will not be tolerated, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today asked the Himachal University authorities to deal will all such elements with a firm hand.

Students meet Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh at Himachal Pradesh University in Shimla. Tribune photo

Tribune News Service

Shimla, July 22

Sending a strong signal to both students as well as the teaching community that political indulgence at the cost of studies will not be tolerated, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today asked the Himachal University authorities to deal will all such elements with a firm hand.

Taking serious note of the violent clashes among various students bodies on the campus, the Chief Minister asked the university authorities to deal sternly with all such elements who vitiate the academic atmosphere of the Himachal Pradesh University (HPU). “The teachers must also not impose their political or personal ideology on students as they must strictly confine themselves to academic pursuits and guide the students on the right path,” said an upset Virbhadra.

Speaking at the 47th Foundation Day celebrations of the HPU here today, Virbhadra expressed his displeasure at the mischief being created by some student outfits. “At the start of the new academic session, these bodies pitch their tents and misguide students to achieve their narrow political ends, not realizing that they are running the career of the youth,” he remarked. He said the HPU was among one of the best centres of learning and meant for only those who wanted to pursue studies. “Enough is enough, and it is high time for the authorities to deal with all such miscreants sternly so that academic atmosphere of the university does not get vitiated,” he said.

The Chief Minister said that difference in political ideology did not mean that students should have personal enmity with each other and should try to impose their ideology on other forcefully. “Such elements are not students but professional demonstrators who take admission in the university only to vitiate the atmosphere and disturb others. There is no place for such people and they are sadly mistaken that by behaving in this fashion they make an entry into politics,” he said.

The Chief Minister also challenged such forces to come out and test their political strength by contesting the Assembly elections so that they got to know their real worth. “Staging dharnas, disrupting classes, raising slogans and manhandling their teachers won’t be tolerated and the guilty would be dealt with a heavy hand,” he warned.