"Dr Vipin Srivastava who took charge as the interim vice-chancellor of Hyderabad Central University has proceeded for leave from the afternoon of January 29 and the next senior most professor Dr M Pariasamy will perform the duties of the V-C till further orders," a university official said.
However, it did not mention the period of leave.
"The current environment on the campus is extremely vitiated and is perceived by the Dalit community as intimidating and hostile," he said.
Agitators called for a 'Chalo HCU' protest march to press their demand for a 'Rohith Act' to safeguard SC/ST students.
Six of the seven students of the Hyderabad Central University, on hunger strike to protest the suicide of Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula, have been shifted to a health centre even as the agitators today took out a march to the residence of the interim head of the institution.
Faculty members put in their papers from their respective posts in solidarity with the protesting students over the suicide of Rohith Vemula.
Faculty members are also continuing in the administrative position.
Hyderabad Central University says it had taken a 'lenient view' by not imposing 'complete suspension' of the five research scholars, including the Dalit PhD student who committed suicide.
A stage seems to have set for confrontation between students of University of Hyderabad and its authorities over organisation of "Shahadat Din" on Tuesday in memory of dalit scholar Rohit Vemula whose alleged suicide last year had raised a political firestorm.
Senior Union Human Resources Development ministry officials said in Delhi that Justice (retd) Roopanwal will review the entire sequence of events, the circumstances and to establish facts and correctives in the context of the incident in a university.
The SC and ST Teachers Forum said in a statement that its members would go on a hunger strike from Thursday to press for the resignation of VC Appa Rao and the interim VC 'in order to resume academic and administrative activities'.
Security was beefed up with a large number of police personnel being deployed around the campus as a precautionary measure.
Dalit faculty members on Thursday threatened to step down from administrative positions if their key demand of revocation of suspension of four other students is not met.
Nelli Praveen Kumar, aged about 25, a first semester student of Master of Fine Arts course of Department of Fine Arts, Sarojini Naidu School of Arts and Communication, was found hanging from ceiling in the room at about 4.15 am
Rohith, like Mahatma Gandhi, was not allowed to speak the truth by the forces who killed him, said Congress vice president.
The storm over the suicide of a Dalit student in Hyderabad University intensified on Thursday.
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