Silchar (Assam), (Samajweekly) Following the unnatural death of a third-year electrical engineering student, more than 2,000 students of the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Silchar, have been on a hunger strike for more than 36 hours now, demanding the resignation of the Dean (Academics) of the institute.
The students are protesting against B.K. Roy, the Dean, for allegedly abetting the suspected suicide of Koj Buker, a student from Arunachal Pradesh student, who was found dead in his hostel room on September 15.
The students began their hunger strike on the campus on Monday. On Tuesday, they wrote to President Droupodi Murmu, outlining their demands and the current state of NIT Silchar.
The students wrote, “Dean Academics has been harassing students since the beginning of his tenure. Koj Bukar committed suicide due to the constant pressure from Roy. If this continues to be the state of the college, we don’t know how many more such cases of suicide will surface.”
They have also written to the Prime Minister, Assam Governor and Chief Minister demanding their intervention in the matter.
The students have urged the institute administrators to lodge an FIR over the inexplicable death of Koj Buker so that the police can conduct an investigation. Additionally, they have claimed monetary reparations for Koj Buker’s family.
The students declared that they would keep protesting until Roy admits his guilt for Koj Buker’s alleged suicide and steps down from his position.
After the students went on hunger strike, the Silchar NIT administration has temporarily dismissed Roy from the position of Dean (Academics).
“Roy will not serve as Dean during this time,” said Registrar K.L. Baishnab, adding that an internal committee is looking into the circumstances surrounding the inexplicable death of Koj Buker.
According to Baishnab, they went to speak with the students and begged them to end their hunger strike because the authorities have already taken action against Roy.
“They want all of their demands to be met simultaneously, which is not conceivable,” he said.
