4 students suspended from university hostel for taking part in pro-Amaravati protest

Four students of Acharya Nagarjuna University have been suspended from the varsity hostel for taking part in protests demanding Amaravati to be retained as the sole capital of Andhra Pradesh.

Two students of Journalism and Mass Communication Department -- Asirvadam and Naveen, and two students of English Department -- Raju and Edukondalu -- were suspended by the hostel chief warden Dr Ramachandran, as per the orders of Vice-Chancellor (FAC) Prof P Rajasekhar.

The suspension order claims that the said students took part in "anti-government activities" and hence, they have been suspended for this reason.

The students were ordered to appear before the university's disciplinary committee. The committee will seek their explanation and decide the period of suspension, the order said.

TDP MP from Guntur Galla Jayadev condemned the suspension of four students.

In his tweet, Jayadev questioned whether the students have no right to hold a peaceful protest.

"ANU suspending 4 students for participating in Pro-Amaravati programme, & calling them Anti-Govt is highly condemnable. 2 of them are pursuing journalism. First, don't they have the right to peaceful protest? Second, isn't the role of a journalist to question the wrong decisions of Govt?" he said.