The Students’ Union of NERIST (SUN) has announced that it will launch an indefinite hunger strike from June 8 in protest against the alleged forced resignation of NERIST Director Prof Narendranath S. The decision comes after the union claimed that it had not received any response from the Ministry of Education, the chairman of the NERIST Board of Management (BoM), or the Arunachal Pradesh government regarding its earlier appeal on the matter. In a letter addressed to the chairman of the NERIST Board of Management on June 7, the students’ body said it had been compelled to begin the agitation as its concerns remained unanswered despite repeated representations.
According to SUN, a letter was submitted on June 3 seeking intervention in the matter of Prof Narendranath’s resignation. The union alleged that the resignation was obtained under pressure and called for immediate steps to address the issue. The students’ body has placed two key demands before the authorities. First, it has urged the Ministry of Education to reject the resignation of Prof Narendranath and allow him to continue serving his full five-year tenure as director of the North Eastern Regional Institute of Science and Technology (NERIST). Secondly, the union has demanded the release of CCTV footage from the director’s chamber recorded on May 29. According to SUN, the footage relates to the incident that allegedly resulted in the director being compelled to resign.
The union stated that its demands have already been submitted to the Union Education Minister. Copies of the memorandum were also forwarded to the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh, the Chief Minister, the Education Secretary, the Ministry of Education and the chairman of the NERIST Board of Management. SUN further demanded that the state government initiate strict legal action against those found responsible for the alleged forcible resignation of the director.
