Students protest demanding new VC at CUTS, Varanasi 

Students of the Central University of Tibetan Studies (CUTS) at Sarnath, Varanasi protests calling for change and removal of VC, Geshe Ngawang Samten. Image: Amarujala.

DHARAMSALA, 19 April: Students of the Central University of Tibetan Studies (CUTS) at Sarnath, Varanasi are protesting against the extension of the tenure of the university’s Vice-Chancellor(VC)

The students from the CUTS held a protest on Friday outside the office of VC, Geshe Ngawang Samten as he became VC for the fifth time in a row, reports Amarujala, a Hindi-language daily newspaper.  

According to the report, the protest was led by the students’ union and a signature campaign has been launched demanding the appointment of a new Vice-Chancellor.

Geshe Ngawang has reportedly retired as a professor from the institute recently, and his reappointment as the VC of the CUTS has angered the students as he held the post for over 20 years since 2001.

The students have argued in the report that the institute will see no development under his leadership as they appealed to the Ministry of Culture to appoint a new Vice-Chancellor with a new vision to take the institute forward.

While the students were apprehensive to answer our questions, attempts made by Tibet Express to get hold of the VC through phone calls were unsuccessful.

However, Geshe Ngawang responded to a WhatsApp message saying he is presently engaged. 

Earlier in Feb, the Students have written to the higher authorities appealing not to reappoint Geshe Ngawang as the VC arguing that he has already served the office for four consecutive terms. Similarly, in 2015, some alumni of the CUTS also issued a letter criticising the VC allegedly for dereliction of duty.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *