Game of Thrones on Gandhi Hills: Lessons from MGAHV Wardha’s years of turmoil

WARDHA: A small town on the banks of the eponymous river at the foot of the Satpura range, Wardha was put on the map in 1936 when Mahatma Gandhi moved to a nearby village to set up an ashram. Sevagram was not only Gandhi’s home for the rest of his life but also a laboratory for his social experiments.

Among Gandhi’s many pet projects was the promotion of Hindi as a national language. That didn’t happen but his vision contributed to the creation of Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya (MGAHV), a central university dedicated to imparting knowledge in and of Hindi, in 1997, on the outskirts of Wardha.

Spread over 200 acres on Gandhi Hills, the university’s utilitarian building blocks mirror the simplicity of Sevagram. However, the Gandhian ideals the university claims to uphold are at odds with recent events on campus.

The sudden ouster of its vice-chancellor over ‘inappropriate’ chats with a woman around a year-and-a-half ago plunged the university into turmoil.

Amid senior faculty members jostling for clout and allegations of government interference, top posts of the vice-chancellor and registrar changed hands frequently. The chaos spilled onto the student community which faced cycles of protest and punitive action. Expulsion, suspension and police complaints became the order of the day.

Now peaceful, the campus continues to grapple with the fallout.

The centre has just picked a full-time VC for MGAHV Wardha but the months of delay put recruitment on hold causing an acute teacher shortage; PhD admissions have been stalled for over two years. Its law students face an uncertain future as their department’s affiliation status is hazy. Plus, students say that surveillance and restrictions on them continue.

MGAHV main gate. (Source: By special arrangement)

WhatsApp messages

In July 2023, 115 teaching and non-teaching staff members of MGAHV Wardha and some student activists received an email containing 25 screenshots, purportedly of chats between then VC Rajneesh Kumar Shukla and an unnamed woman. The exchange allegedly involved Shukla promising her a teaching job in exchange for sexual favours. While he disowned the chats and filed a police case, student and teacher bodies demanded a probe.

Shukla resigned in a month, setting into motion the chaos and jockeying that would engulf the campus.

Before leaving, Shukla suspended Dharvesh Katheriya, a Dalit associate professor in the mass communication department and president of the teachers’ body, for service rule violations, forming an ‘illegal’ group, misconduct and disobedience. An inquiry was initiated.

As he left MGAHV, Shukla handed over charge to Lella Karunyakara, another Dalit professor who was the School of Culture dean as well as the university’s senior-most teacher. The institute's statutes stipulate that should a VC resign while there’s no pro-VC in place, the most senior teacher will be acting VC till a regular one is appointed. Karunyakara took charge and reinstated Katheriya.

In October, President Draupadi Murmu, in her capacity as Visitor, appointed Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Nagpur director Bhimaraya Metri as the acting VC. Metri appointed Katheriya registrar.

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Karunyakara challenged Metri’s appointment at the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court (HC). While the union ministry of education argued that there were complaints of “serious nature” against Karunyakara, In March, 2024, the HC ruled the Visitor’s decision illegal, while allowing her to make a fresh appointment.

MGAHV Wardha: 1 order, 2 readings

As soon as the judgment was delivered, Karunyakara assumed the role of institute head and occupied the VC's chamber.

Meanwhile, Katheriya convened a meeting of the executive council, the university’s top statutory body, to kickstart the process of appointing a new VC. He also asked Karunyakara to vacate the VC office.

A senior professor close to Karunyakara said his lawyer had counseled him that since the court order set aside Metri’s appointment, Karunyakara would continue to hold the VC’s post.

“The university statutes automatically elevate the seniormost professor to the VC's post, when the post becomes vacant. There’s no need for anyone to make a formal appointment. Karunyakara was worried that if anything untoward were to happen after Metri’s exit, he would have been held responsible for not assuming the top role,” said the teacher.

Plus, Karunyakara argued that Katheriya, as ex-officio member secretary of the EC, had no right to convene the meeting.

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Katheriya interpreted the HC’s verdict differently. “The court order never said to reinstate Karunyakara and merely directed the Visitor to make an appointment according to rules. As registrar, I simply asked him if he had an appointment letter and since he didn’t, I asked him to vacate and reported it to the ministry. If in a system there’s no VC, should the university be shut? At that time I consulted senior professors and took the decisions that needed to be taken,” he said.

On April 5, 2024, the education ministry wrote to Katheriya saying that Karunyakara had sent several letters to the ministry and the Visitor about assuming charge as MGAHV VC and issued “arbitrary” communications and orders. Holding these acts to be in breach of the HC’s verdict, the ministry accused the academic of causing “panic and disruption” and “severely disturbing” the functioning of the university. The ministry also asked the registrar to place the issue before the EC and take action. Karunyakara was suspended and had an inquiry initiated that continues.

Later, on April 26, the ministry informed that the Visitor had approved Krishna Kumar Singh, a professor in the comparative literature department and the next seniormost professor, to perform VC’s duties.

Within a month, the new VC once again suspended and initiated two fresh inquiries against Katheriya. The action followed a heated confrontation which led to them filing cross complaints with the police against each other.

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Katheriya, accused of financial irregularities, wrongful hiring of a deputy registrar and taking out a protest march without approval, remains suspended; Anand Patil, a Hindi professor, has been appointed to his position.

Singh retired at the end of February, handing the charge over to another temporary head, professor Hanuman Prasad Shukla. In early March, Delhi University’s Kumud Sharma finally got the permanent job.

Samta Bhavan at MGAHV

Against MGAHV students

While Karunyakara fought the legal battle against Metri, at a Republic Day event last year, two scholars, Rajesh Kumar Yadav from the All India Students’ Association (AISA) and Rajneesh Kumar Ambedkar, who runs the Ambedkar Students Forum, waved black banners with “Illegal VC Go Back” written on them.

The duo was immediately handed over to the police and later, banned from the campus and expelled. Another scholar, Niranjan Kumar Oberoi, a member of Samyak Vidyarthi Andolan group, was also expelled for being involved.

The communication from the university, signed by Katheriya, says that the students have been involved in “anti-university” activities even in the past and that their expulsion and entry-ban were based on the recommendations of a “high-level” inquiry committee.

On the same day, MGAHV suspended two other students - Ramchandra, a PhD candidate in the women studies department at MGAHV’s Prayagraj centre, and Vivek Mishra, an undergraduate in the theatre studies department – for writing social media posts opposing the actions against their peers. The probe panel found them guilty of spreading “defamatory, misleading and baseless” news. They were asked to leave their dormitories.

As guards and other staff approached to evict them on January 27, a scuffle broke out. Mishra was dragged out of the building - the other two were away - and all three rooms were locked.

Among those involved in the fracas was Jatin Chaudhary, a bachelor’s student associated with All India Students’ Federation (AISF). On February 7, he was expelled for “disrespecting the guards, teachers and authorities, violence, anarchy and creating hurdles in administrative work and spreading fear and tension”.

The same evening saw another confrontation between students and guards.

Chaudhary, Mishra and Oberoi eventually secured a stay on the disciplinary action from the Nagpur bench of HC.

However, the university continued to bar Oberoi’s entry resulting in a contempt-of-court plea against Katheriya in April. The HC, in an order, held that Katheriya “intentionally and deliberately acted in contravention and disregard to the orders of this Court”.

Ramchandra and Yadav moved the court in December, 2024; their matter is still being heard.

Seeds of unrest

According to the campus community, the seeds of unrest were sown years before, with the appointment of Shukla as VC in April 2019.

The philosophy professor is seen as close to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), having worked as the national vice president of its affiliated student body Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).

Shukla’s tenure was marked by heightened authoritarianism and surveillance of students, said sources. He was also accused of injecting “Sangh’s agenda” into campus life. One of Shukla’s first acts upon becoming VC was outlawing meat in hostel messes and canteens. The responsibility of running the diners was transferred from student-run cooperatives to outside contractors, and the charges hiked.

In October 2019, the administration suspended five students and an alumnus, belonging to Dalit and Other Backward Classes (OBC) communities, for organising an event to commemorate the death anniversary of Bahujan ideologue and BSP-founder Kanshi Ram. It included a letter-writing drive to the prime minister, Narendra Modi, expressing concern over mob lynchings and other issues. The suspension was eventually cancelled.

In March 2023, two groups of students clashed a day after a Ram Navami procession on campus. ABVP denied any involvement and progressive activists claimed a statement was taken out of context. Shukla blamed the leftists.

Surveillance and police complaints

Besides installing CCTV cameras, the authorities also began videographing activities and protests of the leftist and Ambedkarite student organisations, even as the ABVP was allowed a freer run - a trend, students alleged, that continues.

“The progressive organisations never got permission for any activity in the university auditoriums… Earlier, even violence was resolved by the campus security. Now all student activities are reported to the police,” said AISA’s Rajesh Kumar Yadav.

These allegations were contested by ABVP leaders on campus. “There’s no question of them not getting permission for anything. In fact, they recently conducted an event at Ghalib Auditorium. It’s another matter that their programmes are poorly attended,” said Durgesh Sathawane, a research scholar and an ABVP activist.

Anand Patil, registrar till February, is a regular contributor to the RSS mouthpiece, Panchjanya, and was in-charge of ABVP’s Central University of Tamil Nadu chapter while working as a faculty at the institute.

He said, “We treat all student groups equally and never refuse anything other than something peculiar such as Phoolan Devi Jayanti, as it will start an unwanted discourse,” he said, referring to the bandit-politician from Uttar Pradesh, who is revered as a Bahujan icon despite the criminal charges against her.

Malviya Bhavan at MGAHV

Conflict with staff

With Shukla at the helm, academic council meetings lost the spirited discussions stretching for hours but saw decisions getting cleared quickly. “Despite almost all professors being part of the academic council, no discussions would happen. Meetings would be over within minutes, as Shukla put screws on the teachers who might dissent,” said the teacher.

An official said that Shukla’s style of functioning bred resentment among staffers. “The situation has indeed escalated after Shukla left. Since he was a dabang (overbearing) administrator, things stayed under the wraps. However, people’s grievances kept accumulating,” said the official. Once he left, Shukla left an explosion of conflict in his wake.

Now back at the Comparative Religion and Philosophy department of the Sampurnanand Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya, Varanasi, Shukla acknowledged he was a “disciplinarian” and “fearless” administrator but insisted he was fair and non-partisan. His administration acted against both the Right and Left and the campus activities of all student bodies were video recorded. He refuted allegations about suppressing teacher’s voices in statutory bodies.

“I consider student activism an essential part of education. However, anti-nationalism and the gathering and activities of anti-social elements shouldn’t take place,” he said.

Shukla suggested he was framed for refusing to hire the kin of some university staffers and made the sensational claim that MGAHV teachers had links with Naxalites in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district. “The university had been working as a feeder for Gadchiroli.… The intelligence bureau (IB) had information that 12 out of 62 teachers were actively involved with the underground activities in Gadchiroli. You can imagine the atmosphere of such a place,” he said.

Shukla didn’t offer any evidence except for pointing out that the faculty had extended financial support to Ilina Sen, the partner of the human rights activist Binayak Sen, who has been charged for his alleged connection to the outlawed CPI (Maoist) organisation. Ilina Sen had taught at MGAHV.

Shukla laid out the achievements of his administration. “Enrollment increased and its financial situation improved. An institutional review board (IRB) was set up and research projects worth crores were commissioned.…I added two more regional campuses. The long-pending construction of buildings was completed,” he said. “To do all this, one has to be tough. If anyone’s still hurt by it, I can’t do anything about it.”

Katheriya and Karunyakara

Among those embittered was Katheriya. According to the senior teacher, he and Shukla fell out over the teacher’s body. “The teachers’ association was lying dormant in the earlier part of Shukla’s term. Katheriya revived it and became its president against the VC’s wishes,” they said.

While Katheriya maintained he had no role in resurrecting the association, he confirmed Shukla’s disapproval of attempts to organise the faculty. “I was simply asked to head the body, as no one was coming forward,” he said, adding, “Shukla believed that the process of forming the teacher’s body was invalid. But these matters were beyond his jurisdiction. He managed to turn some of the teachers against me, which ultimately led to my suspension.”

While Karunyakara did bring him back, Katheriya lost his position at the association. This was apparently a result of Karunyakara’s backing of another professor, Amrendra Kumar Sharma, for the role.

Karunyakara refused to speak to Careers360 citing the ongoing inquiry against him.

Many believe he paid the price for being an outspoken Dalit. “For many at the university, ideology is merely a tool in power politics. Caste-affiliations are a more powerful currency. It was Karunyakara’s political inexperience that cost him,” said the senior teacher, adding, “While power politics is present everywhere, at MGAHV, one expects people to hold onto Gandhian idealism.”

A Dalit VC is indeed a rarity in central universities. Data presented in Lok Sabha in July 2023 show that there was only one scheduled caste (SC) and one scheduled tribe (ST) head at 45 central universities.

What most students and officials do agree on is that Katheriya was instrumental in toppling both Shukla and Karunyakara. Katheriya downplays his role. “If I were indeed so powerful, I wouldn’t be facing this suspension,” he said.

But he’s had run-ins with the third caretaker VC as well. According to a senior professor, Katheriya “barged into the VC’s office and threatened and disrespected” Krishna Kumar Singh for “no apparent reason”. “He simply had a reign of terror.”

School of Translation and Interpretation at MGAHV

‘Raising hell’

That allegedly began with Metri appointing Katheriya registrar. By all accounts, Metri’s tenure saw a sharp uptick in disciplinary measures – expulsion and suspension of students – and increased tension between the administration and students and teachers.

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In December 2023, students from MGAHV’s law department held a week-long protest over the lack of clarity on Bar Council of India’s (BCI) recognition of their five-year LLB course. The newly-formed department’s name didn’t figure in BCI’s 2023 list of approved legal education centres. Students were concerned about the validity of their programme and, according to two, threw their footwear at some staffers. The agitation was violently broken up and all law students asked to leave their hostels and return after 45 days. The university promised to fulfill the norms for BCI recognition.

A few months later, in February 2024, over 100 undergraduate and master’s students were barred from appearing for the semester-end tests for having low attendance. This brought on another stand-off with the university filing FIRs against the protesters.

In April last year, Katheriya issued show-cause notices to an informal group of teachers who had been holding weekly readings of BR Ambedkar’s works, claiming their gathering put the “safety and health of students and reputation of the university” at risk.

When the teachers remained defiant, two were transferred to the Amravati and Prayagraj campuses and two others removed from their administrative roles.

“Katheriya had raised hell. He transferred and tortured those involved with the teachers’ association,” said the university official.

‘Attempt to enforce rules’

Now suspended, the former registrar alleged he was targeted due to his Dalit identity and that he was merely trying to enforce rules and discipline. He insisted his actions were based on collective decisions made by the administration and reminded that the suspensions and expulsions were based on the recommendations of a 17-member panel.

“During my stint, I only tried to solve the problems that I saw during the last 10-15 years. Stagnancy has set in many places at MGAHV. I shut down the departments with perennially low enrollment. I had a vision to restructure the university by creating demand for courses and creating new posts. We tried so that the university becomes and feels like one. But many who came from the old mold, opposed it,” he said.

MGAHV campus

The fallout

Krishna Kumar Singh and Anand Patil, the recently retired interim VC and his registrar, insist their tenure has been “the most peaceful” but admit that the absence of a full-time VC for a long period hampered the varsity’s functioning.

The education ministry took more than a year, until March 6, to make an appointment. In consequence, the university hasn’t been able to complete the appointment of 54 temporary faculty, who were interviewed during Shukla and Singh’s tenures.

University departments have had to make do with the existing staff, with some teachers being moved from their specialised departments to under-staffed centres.

For example, two teachers from the education department were recently transferred to the distance education division.

These transfers have irked students. “There aren’t enough teachers. And the ones who are there lack adequate knowledge of the subjects they teach.… There’s no one to take any responsibility. We don’t even know who will assess our assignments,” said a BEd student.

Another major issue is the stalling of PhD admissions for over two years. While entrance tests and interviews for 2022-23 sessions were conducted in 2023, the results were withheld, thanks to allegations of irregularities in the test. Those remain stalled despite an inquiry committee clearing the process.

In a recent letter to the administration, Chandan Saroj, AISF MGAHV unit president demanded the swift declaration of results. “The university is in a state of being without any research scholars. This could have an adverse effect on the university’s reputation and the students’ interest,” he wrote.

Centre’s nominees

In January this year, the university had planned to place the inquiry committee report before its executive council and seek approval for declaring PhD results and teacher appointments.

However, the council meeting was cancelled at the eleventh hour. Multiple officials and faculty members have claimed the ministry and the Visitor's nominees in the EC have pressured the ad-hoc administration into stalling meetings.

“The Visitor’s nominees have been very disruptive. One of them writes inane letters to the administration, issuing all kinds of threats. Others don’t cooperate,” said a senior teacher.

One of the worst-hit sections is its law department which, despite existing for over three years, has only one regular faculty member, and three guest teachers. The students depend on teachers from other departments for pre-law subjects. “We are now planning to write to the nearby law colleges to loan some of their teachers to meet our requirements,” said an official.

A PhD student

At a stone’s throw from MGAHV’s Wardha campus, 37-year-old Rajneesh Kumar Ambedkar sits in the living room of his modest rented apartment. The research scholar has a binder full of papers that could be mistaken for his thesis but is, in fact, a neatly-categorised trail of correspondence he had with everyone from the PM Office to the University Grants Commission and National Commission for Scheduled Castes.

His research guide at the women’s studies department had retired in March 2018, mid-way through his doctorate, but continued to guide him. But at the time of pre-submission of the thesis in 2022, Ambedkar was asked to change the guide’s name.

The Dalit scholar refused. He believed the regulations prohibit such change. Plus, it was a matter of principle. “The ethics of research demand that the one who actually did the guidance be named as the guide,” he said.

MGAHV scholar Rajneesh Kumar Ambedkar

Ambedkar eventually got his wish but some cited this and other issues as examples of how dissenting students get little support. “After 2014, they are conspiring to destroy all universities and democratic voices. In other places, there’s a pressure group against the administration. But at MGAHV, there’s no alternate voice. Even the seniors are silent,” said Ramchandra.

Students and faculty also lament what they see as increased polarisation. “There were student organisations of different hues even earlier. But the environment was much more hospitable. There used to be free exchanges of ideas,” said Yadav.

“There was no narrowness over things like caste. The academic environment was healthy while new teachers were readily accommodated. Now, there is groupism,” said an official.

‘Creating nuisance’

Sathawane holds a different view. “In many cases, in order to build an organisation, the students need an issue. They (suspended students) tried to benefit by creating nuisance. They could have raised their demands in a different way,” he said.

A section of students feel their peers should have acted more responsibly.

“When the VC is of the same ideology as them, students are happy, otherwise every single thing is opposed. The students should be as concerned about their rights as their duties,” said a law student.

According to Amrendra Kumar Sharma, the current teachers’ association president, building trust between the students, teachers and administration is key.

“A university should be pro-student. If it doesn’t align itself to this cause, everyone is affected. Action can be taken for anti-university activities but it can’t be retributive. The administration failed to understand this fine line,” he said. “A visionary administrator will build this trust. They need to let all ideas bloom. In the last three-four years, students with different ideas were discriminated against, leading to the erosion of trust.”