LNIPE Protest: Students allegedly hold VC hostage for two hours, begin hunger strike

Students of the Laxmibai National Institute of Physical Education (LNIPE), a Central government institute, protesting over the death of a female student at its Guwahati campus, allegedly held the vice chancellor hostage for two hours, officials said on Wednesday. Four of the protesters launched a hunger strike on Wednesday morning.

The students have been protesting in Gwalior for the past 14 days, demanding the resignation of the registrar and Rs 50 lakh compensation for the family of the deceased. Shruti Upadhyay (22), a third-year BPEd student at the LNIPE Guwahati campus, died on September 9 after falling ill. Students have questioned the healthcare facilities at the Guwahati campus and have been staging a sit-in outside the main gate of the institute here.

Claiming that the institute refused to accept their demands, the students reached the administrative building on Tuesday evening and locked it. Vice Chancellor Professor Kalpana Sharma and other LNIPE staffers were present inside the building, an official said. Police subsequently arrived at the scene and rescued the VC and others, the official said.

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Protesting student Amit Chaudhary told reporters, "We have been protesting for 14 days, but no solution has been found. That's why the students shut down the administrative building." He said the institute is exerting various pressures to force them to end the protest and return to class. Chaudhary said the institute has now assured them that a team from Delhi would visit Gwalior on September 24 to listen to the protesting students.

"We will all wait until September 24. If the problem is not resolved, we will intensify the protest. This time, we have only shut down the administrative building; next time, we will take even more drastic steps," he said.

The institute is improving medical facilities but is indifferent to the demands for the registrar's resignation and compensation of Rs 50 lakh, he said. Vice Chancellor Sharma told reporters that the institute has no restrictions on peaceful protests, but the shutting down of the administrative building on Tuesday evening was inappropriate.

The VC said talks are ongoing with the students, and some of their six demands have been accepted, while a committee has been formed regarding the remaining demands. She said the institute has been urging the students to attend classes and study. Sharma said that the Guwahati administration has given Rs 4 lakh to the family of the deceased student on behalf of the Assam government and Rs 5 lakh as compensation.