<p>Bengaluru: After Azim Premji University (APU) suspended a student for reportedly organising a discussion on Kashmir, more than 179 professors and academicians associated with various universities have signed an open letter addressed to the APU, urging the varsity to revoke the student’s suspension.</p>.<p>Condemning the APU administration for what they dubbed was ‘continued targeting’ of the students, the signatories demanded that the varsity immediately revoke the suspension, and withdraw the punitive action against two other students.</p>.<p>Pointing out that a university must serve as a space for critical inquiry and democratic engagement, the signatories also expressed concern over the impact that such punitive actions might have on the future of the students. They lamented that university education had been confined within the four walls of the classroom.</p>.Bengaluru: Azim Premji University student suspended for 2 years over February 24 campus ruckus; peers protest.<p>“Equally important are the conversations, debates and forms of collective engagement that take place on campuses apart from the formal academic activities. It is through such interactions that students imbibe critical thinking and develop sensibilities towards social justice, and learn about democratic participation. While the students at APU may not have followed the protocol mandated by the administration, these lapses do not justify such severe punishments. The students’ actions were directed towards nurturing intellectual and social engagement of the kind that universities are meant to foster. At a time when academic freedom is being curtailed on university campuses across India, it is imperative that varsity administrations defend, rather than suppress spaces for critical dialogue,” the letter read.</p>.<p>On May 8, APU suspended a student for two years and issued a written warning to two others, after violence erupted on the varsity campus on February 24 when Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad members forcibly entered and vandalised the campus to disrupt a discussion on Kashmir. </p>
<p>Bengaluru: After Azim Premji University (APU) suspended a student for reportedly organising a discussion on Kashmir, more than 179 professors and academicians associated with various universities have signed an open letter addressed to the APU, urging the varsity to revoke the student’s suspension.</p>.<p>Condemning the APU administration for what they dubbed was ‘continued targeting’ of the students, the signatories demanded that the varsity immediately revoke the suspension, and withdraw the punitive action against two other students.</p>.<p>Pointing out that a university must serve as a space for critical inquiry and democratic engagement, the signatories also expressed concern over the impact that such punitive actions might have on the future of the students. They lamented that university education had been confined within the four walls of the classroom.</p>.Bengaluru: Azim Premji University student suspended for 2 years over February 24 campus ruckus; peers protest.<p>“Equally important are the conversations, debates and forms of collective engagement that take place on campuses apart from the formal academic activities. It is through such interactions that students imbibe critical thinking and develop sensibilities towards social justice, and learn about democratic participation. While the students at APU may not have followed the protocol mandated by the administration, these lapses do not justify such severe punishments. The students’ actions were directed towards nurturing intellectual and social engagement of the kind that universities are meant to foster. At a time when academic freedom is being curtailed on university campuses across India, it is imperative that varsity administrations defend, rather than suppress spaces for critical dialogue,” the letter read.</p>.<p>On May 8, APU suspended a student for two years and issued a written warning to two others, after violence erupted on the varsity campus on February 24 when Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad members forcibly entered and vandalised the campus to disrupt a discussion on Kashmir. </p>
