Reinstate suspended students of RGNIYD: Fraternity Movement

The suspension of three Malayali students for allegedly defacing the hostel walls and writing slogans like Jai Bhim and Free Palestine on the hostel walls of the Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development (RGNIYD) campus in Tamil Nadu, which operates under the Union Ministry of Youth and Sports, is anti-democratic and an infringement upon students’ rights, said State secretariat meeting of the Fraternity Movement here on Tuesday. The students have been rusticated and barred from writing semester exams this year for allegedly defacing the hostel walls with graffiti last week.

Jai Bhim is a slogan that salutes the architect of the Constitution, B.R. Ambedkar, while India is a country that has declared a policy of supporting an independent Palestinian State. The institute authorities should clarify to the students and the general public how Jai Bhim and Free Palestine are seditious remarks, the meeting said. The meeting also demanded the revocation of the suspension of the students as soon as possible after withdrawing the anti-democratic steps initiated against them.