Student suicide: Exams postponed as protests continue at Amritsar’s Khalsa College
KCC president Satyajit Singh Majithia reached Amritsar on Monday and declared the postponement of examinations “until normalcy returns”.
A week after suicide by a hosteller for alleged pressure by faculty, the Khalsa College management on Monday announced to postpone final examinations of 7,000 students indefinitely. The exams were scheduled to start on Tuesday.
As the agitation entered its sixth day on Monday, hundreds of students and parents raised slogans outside the college, demanding arrest of three staff members, including the principal, who have already been booked. Teachers have been counter-protesting to demand withdrawal of the suicide-abetment case.
Khalsa College Governing Council (KCGC) president Satyajit Singh Majithia reached Amritsar and declared the postponement of examinations “until normalcy returns”. “This unfortunate incident has saddened us all immensely, but the fallouts after the incident have aggravated the problem,” he said, “To solve this problem I have come all the way from Delhi; but it calls for cooperation from every front, including students, teachers, administration and Harpreet’s family.”
However, Harpreet’s father Yadvinder Singh, while speaking with HT, reiterated that the management was responsible for his son’s suicide, and alleged that the college authorities were unfair with Harpreet, a B.Sc (agriculture) student. Yadvinder, who got the FIR registered, and others have been demanding the arrest of principal Mahal Singh, registrar Devender Singh, and HoD Randeep Kaur Bal. The management has already appointed an acting principal, HoD and registrar, but that has not ended the protest.
“I hold the college responsible for my son’s death because there was no other reason for him to take such a step,” he said, “Harpreet was not only my son but my friend. We used to share everything. There was nothing which was bothering him on the personal front. And there was no stress from the family too. I am a simple farmer and in our homes we do not pressurise our children when it comes to studies. I will support students who are standing for justice for my son.”
