Two students from the University of Hyderabad (UoH) say that the English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU) has denied them their PhD entrance exam hall tickets as they were a part of the protests surrounding the death of research scholar Rohith Vemula.

The two students, Kavyashree Raghunath and Manani MS, are members of the Ambedkar Students Association (ASA) at UoH, of which Rohith was a part of, and are doing their MPhil in the Centre for Translation Studies. 

The entrance exam is scheduled to be held on February 25, 2017.

The students claimed that they were not able to download the hall tickets online, and directly approached EFLU's administration. 

Prakash Kona, the proctor of EFLU, stated orally that they both had actively participated in all the protests following Rohith's death, and that he had "photographs of you two on my table", the students alleged.

They also alleged that Kona stated that EFLU Vice-Chancellor Sunaina Singh "didn't want to give admission to people like you".

While Kavyasree Raghunath is the General Secretary of the ASA, Manasi MS is the Cultural Secretary of the association's UoH wing. 

Several students condemned the alleged act by the university, also highlighting that the university has a "history of casteism". 

However, the university has reportedly defended its stand.

Speaking to The New Indian Express, proctor Prakash Kona, said, "There is a university rule which does not allow students involved in acts of indiscipline to write the entrance exam. The two students were present at almost every other protest at the university when they were studying here. EFLU is very serious about ensuring discipline on campus and not allowing such students to spoil the atmosphere. I told them they have the option of writing to the Vice Chancellor and asking to be allowed to give the exam."
This is also not the first time that the university is in the spotlight for denying hall tickets to students on 'disciplinary' grounds.

Last year, 27-year-old Mohammed Jalees, who had finished his MA in Arabic, was told that he couldn’t appear for the PhD entrance exam at the university because of a police case registered against him. 

At the time, Jalees, a student from Kerala, said that he was asked to meet the proctor when he went to collect his admit card for the entrance exam.

The proctor allegedly told him that he was not eligible to appear for the entrance exams as there was a police case registered against him for conducting a beef festival and consuming beef in the university.

Jalees said that the news came as a surprise to him as he was not even aware that a police complaint had been lodged against him.

He said that he was shocked to hear that the university administration could bar him from the entrance exam because he ate beef.

Responding to the latest development, Jalees took to Facebook, to write, "Last year, Hyderabad's EFLU administration denied an entrance exam hall ticket to me, because I ate beef in the campus. Now, the same university administration has denied hall tickets to Kavyasree and Manasi because they were active in the protests for Justice for Rohith Vemula."

"Indulgence in political activism is a crime in the University," he remarked.

Courtesy: The News Minute