Tension on Law College campus

Tension prevailed on the Law College campus on Thursday after the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) activists laid a siege to the office of the principal demanding the construction of a new ladies hostel and suspending the decision to vacate the male students from the hostel.

The march and subsequent gherao were launched in the morning. The agitators alleged that the decision to vacate the boys from the boys’ hostel was taken with a wrong intention. SFI district president R S Balamurali said that the decision to vacate the boys from the hostel and convert it into a girls hostel was unacceptable to the student community.

“The current hostel houses around 80 students. Sufficient alternative facility should be arranged before vacating them. The argument that the girls will be accommodated in the hostel is ridiculous. Even the boys are finding it difficult to live in the hostel, which is located close to a notorious colony. Then how can girls reside there peacefully?” Balamurali asked.

He also alleged that the current decision to vacate the boys hostel was taken to sully the reputation of the institution. ”Some of the teachers are planning to relocate themselves to private law institutions after retirement. So, they are silently trying to defame the college,’’ he said.

The agitators, numbering around 50, were later arrested by Museum police and released on station bail.