‘Victory born of perseverance’ for university students as university flashes and withdraws affidavit | Chandigarh News

The decision came after a day of high drama marked by political visits, confrontations and final negotiations between the student council and the administration.

The PU affidavit requires students to provide undertakings regarding their behavior and manner of protest on campus. The students said the affidavit aimed to undermine their right to protest and dissent, and they staged a protest for the first time in June. On October 29, they began an indefinite protest, demanding the full retraction of the affidavit.

The walkout comes even as uncertainty remains over another move opposed by students and politicians – the Centre’s recent notification that overhauled the PU’s governance structure, converting the elected union into a fully nominated body and reducing the strength of the Senate.

Students lock the admin block after admins skip chats

Despite assurances of dialogue, senior officials, including Registrar YP Verma, failed to show up for the talks on Tuesday morning. As the hunger strike entered its seventh day, frustration worsened. At noon, after giving the administration a ten-minute warning, the demonstrators closed the administrative building and began raising slogans outside.

VC Renu Vig later called PUCSC members Ashmit Singh and Mohit Manderana for a special meeting to discuss the withdrawal. Nipun Suri, a doctor at UILS, told The Indian Express that the meeting extended for hours and included several back and forths. By 5.30pm, both sides agreed to withdraw the affidavit, but the decision was briefly stalled when the assistant dean insisted that PUCSC chairman Gauravvir Sohal must personally agree before the move could be made official. PUCSC Vice Chairman Ashmit Singh responded by asserting his authority to represent the council in Sohal’s absence. The impasse ended only after Sohal sent his formal approval to the administration via email.

The decision came after a day of high drama marked by political visits, confrontations and final negotiations between the student council and the administration.

Early in the evening, news spread that the affidavit had been withdrawn. Soon Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) president, MP Simranjit Singh Mann and former health minister Balbir Singh Sidhu arrived on the campus to meet the students, praising their persistence.

According to the official minutes signed by the Dean of Student Welfare and Council members, the affidavit – which was submitted to organize the student protests – has been withdrawn “completely and with immediate effect.” The administration also confirmed that the decision will be referred to the Punjab and Haryana High Court in the next hearing.

The memorandum of the meeting was signed by Sohal, Ashmit, PUCSC Secretary Abhishek Dagar, Joint Secretary Mohit Mandrana and Anti-Claims Front leaders Archit Garg (petitioner), Manpreet Kaur and Deeksha Verma.

“This is not just a walkout — it is an acknowledgment that students do not leave their constitutional rights at the campus gate,” Garg said. “Our position before the Supreme Court was clear: No university can force students to sign away their right to dissent.”

Outside the venture capital office, cheers erupted as Dagar ended his seven-day hunger strike. “This is a collective victory born out of perseverance,” student leaders said, while the administration described it as “a decision made in the greater interest of the students.”

Chaney criticizes the center

Earlier in the day, former chief minister and Jalandhar MP Charanjit Singh Channi visited the protest site, calling the affidavit a “direct attack on the democratic ethos of Punjab University”.

“Democratic institutions are being destroyed at this university,” Chaney said. “The Center wants to control here and impose the RSS ideology.”

Tracing PU’s journey from Lahore to Hoshiarpur to Chandigarh, he reminded the students that the university was built to serve Punjab. “This university belongs to Punjab,” he said. “But today, Punjab has been separated from its university.”

Chani accused the Center of systematically undermining Punjab’s autonomy, citing the Bhakra Beas, the expansion of the Punjab Border Guard’s authority, and the dissolution of the Union Senate. “After breaking the 90-member Senate, they made it a 31-member body. The graduates’ constituency was abolished. The union is now nominated. This is how the Center took over the university,” he said, adding that the Punjab University was the “nursery of Punjab politics.”

He also criticized the AAP-led Punjab government for not defending the university strongly enough. “They did not provide funds. The Bhagwant Mann government should fight this in the Supreme Court,” the former chief minister said.

Farmers union joins the protest

Members of Bharatiya Kisan Union Majdur also joined the students. State president Dilbagh Singh Gill drew parallels between the students’ movement and the farmers’ struggle. He said: “When you guard the nation, you are called a patriot. But when you demand your rights, you are called anti-national.” “Whether it is farmers in Punjab or these students, the pattern is the same.”

PUCSC alleges ‘delaying tactics’

Even after the withdrawal, some student leaders accused the administration of “delaying tactics.” “On November 3, we were called in the morning and kept waiting till 7 pm. They agreed to our terms but later linked the withdrawal to whether Archit Garg would drop his petition. This clearly shows their tactics,” said Ashmit, vice-president of PUCSC.

When asked if the affidavit issue was related to the controversy in the Senate, he said: “It is undoubtedly part of the same plan. Chandigarh institutions are being taken over one by one: PGIMER is no longer affiliated with the university, Punjab Engineering College has been separated, and now they are trying to weaken the university’s autonomy.”

The author is an intern at The Indian Express