PU students shut gate over shake-up, gherao officials; AAP holds protest

Protests against the Centre’s sweeping restructuring of Panjab University (PU) senate and syndicate spilled on to Chandigarh roads on Monday, igniting fierce dissent, debate and division across academic and political circles.

The Chandigarh unit of Punjab’s ruling AAP led a candlelight march at the Sector 17 Plaza while its councillors raised the issue in a Municipal Corporation House meeting, resulting in a ruckus before Mayor Harpreet Kaur Babla of the BJP disallowed discussion, saying it did not fall under the civic body’s purview.

On the university campus, tensions escalated as students intensified their protest by shutting down Gate No. 2 and tried to gherao PU officials.

They launched an indefinite sit-in around 2 p.m., which was still continuing late into the night, preventing anyone from entering or exiting the premises.

The agitation gained momentum after Haryana Congress MP Deepender Singh Hooda arrived on the campus to express solidarity with the protesting students.

Punjab AAP MP Malvinder Singh Kang, former SAD MP Prem Singh Chandumajra, and Punjab BSP president Avtar Singh Karimpuri also joined the students' protest on campus.

Meanwhile, Chandigarh Congress MP and former Union Minister Manish Tewari launched a scathing attack on the BJP-led Centre, calling the university’s reconstitution “constitutionally untenable and historically flawed”.

Speaking to The Tribune, which first broke the story of the dramatic shake-up, Tewari said, “This is a legal travesty — an unconstitutional overreach into a state law. The Panjab University Act, 1947, is a state enactment. It cannot be amended through a reorganisation provision decades later.”

He vowed to raise the issue in Parliament while several former senators were already preparing a legal challenge. Tewari’s intervention came amid a growing wave of opposition to the Centre’s move.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had earlier called it “an encroachment on Punjab’s heritage and federal spirit”.

Senior AAP leaders Harjot Singh Bains, Harpal Singh Cheema, Malvinder Singh Kang and Congress leaders Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, Partap Singh Bajwa, Pawan Kumar Bansal and Pargat Singh accused the Centre of “destroying democratic traditions”.

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) also denounced the decision, terming it “anti-Punjab and unconstitutional”. However, academia across Panjab University and beyond continues to laud the Centre’s restructuring as a reform long overdue.

Former Vice-Chancellor KN Pathak told The Tribune, “It is a very good development for PU, long overdue and debated for 30 years.”

Arun Grover, also a former VC, said, “The Centre has filled a governance vacuum. It should be seen as relief for the Vice-Chancellor.”

Former Senator and Vice-Chancellor of Gurugram University Sanjay Kaushik called it “a thoughtful attempt to enhance efficiency and align governance with contemporary needs” while Promila Pathak, former PUTA president, said, “The new structure ensures greater representation for teachers and alumni. It’s democratic and inclusive.”

Devinder Singh, Vice-Chancellor of Dr BR Ambedkar National Law University, Sonepat, added, “These reforms will boost the academic environment and preserve the Senate’s basic structure while ensuring more elected representation — a balanced and welcome change.”