The Hindu : Kerala / Kochi News : SFI launches indefinite strike at CUSAT

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Friday, Jan 06, 2006

Kerala

Kerala - Kochi

SFI launches indefinite strike at CUSAT

Staff Reporter

University refuses to swear in students' union leader

KOCHI: The Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) unit of the Students Federation of India (SFI) launched an indefinite strike on Thursday protesting against the university authorities' refusal to swear in Prasanth C. John as the general secretary of the university students' union.

Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, SFI State president Sindhu Joy said university union chairman K.C. Sanal would launch an indefinite fast from Sunday. The general council members will also launch a fast.

The SFI district committee will take out a district-level protest march to the administrative block of the university on January 11.

The SFI leader said that the CUSAT authorities were not allowing the swearing-in ceremony of Mr. Prasanth as general secretary out of personal and political vendetta. The pressure exerted by the ruling UDF was also a major reason for this attitude adopted by the university authorities. Mr. Prasanth, a student of the School of Engineering Campus of the CUSAT had joined the Certificate Course in Japanese Language at the Department of Foreign Languages.

Even though Mr. Prasanth's name was not included in the list sent by the Chief Electoral Officer to prepare the voters' list for the university union elections, his name was included in the first draft voters' list published on May 26, 2005, by the chief returning officer.

Inclusion of his name in the voters' list was not challenged even after the draft list was published and it was included in the final list published on October 12, 2005, also.

Mr. Prasanth was elected unanimously from his class in the elections and he was also elected to the post of general secretary without opposition.

Ms. Joy said that the university authorities had not objected to Mr. Prasanth's candidature at any stage of the election process. However, the authorities were refusing to conduct his swearing-in ceremony.

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