Congress asks president to remove Hyderabad varsity VC

A Congress delegation met President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday to seek removal of University of Hyderabad Vice Chancellor P. Appa Rao from his post.

"We met President Pranab Mukherjee and apprised him about the tense situation prevailing at Hyderabad central university. We have sought the vice chancellor's removal as people who are responsible for the tension in educational institutions should not be allowed to continue,"

senior party leader Sushilkumar Shinde told reporters here.

The former home minister noted that though a case after the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has already been registered against Appa Rao, he had rejoined but neither the human resource development ministry nor police had taken any action against him.

Shinde, who had met arrested students and faculty members in a Hyderabad jail on Monday, also charged the Narendra Modi government with "igniting communal tensions" in educational institutions.

"They are igniting communal tensions. The people who are heading various ministries and departments are not paying any heed to the atrocities on the backward students," he said.

"They talk about Babasaheb Ambedkar and are celebrating his 125th anniversary, but they are silent when atrocities are being committed on the people for whom he had fought to get equality as human beings," he added.

The delegation, led by party leader in Lok Sabha Mallikrajun Kharge, submitted a ten point memorandum to the president. Its members included Sheila Dikshit, Anand Sharma, Jyotiraditya

Scindia, Ajay Maken, and Randeep Singh Surjewala.