Kathmandu, January 17:

Condemning the “autocratic behaviour” of the management of the Kathmandu University, the Kathmandu University Professors’ Association (KUPA) and Kathmandu University Staff Association (KUSA) have demanded resignation of top officials of the university.

Surendra KC, the KUSA chairperson, said, “Resisting the managements’ warning, we have been staging peaceful protest programmes for a long time.” He accused the management of “hiring hooligans, who manhandled teachers and staffers taking part in the protests”.

“Assistant Dean Bhola Thapa repeatedly warned protesters that they would be dismissed if they gave continuity to protests. Due to the warning, Buddhi Bahadur BK committed suicide,” KC charged. He accused the KU authorities of suspending Amit Verma, the KUSA secretary, on January 12 without any reason. Rameshwor Upadhyay, joint-secretary of the Nepal Teachers’ Association, said academic freedom was impossible in the university until autocracy in the university ends. “All officials appointed during the royal regime were supposed to be sacked as per a government decision, but the decision did not apply to KU officials.”

“Vice-chancellor Dr Suresh Raj Sharma and his team must resign,” Upadhyay added. Ram Prasad Ghimere, the KUPA chairperson, said they had padlocked the doors of the management committee on January 14. “On the night of January 15, the management committee hired some locals who broke open the doors.”

Protesting staffers and professors have invited the management for talks tomorrow. The Student Welfare Council and KUSA will opt for fresh protest programmes if the management does not sit for talks.

The programme includes staging of a relay hunger strike on the premises of the Nepal

University Teachers’ Association after winter vacation.