Protests not welcome, issues can be resolved through dialogues: SAU president Aggarwal

South Asian University president K K Aggarwal has said that no protests are welcomed in the varsity and any concern of the students or issues that may arise in the future can be resolved through dialogues.

In an interview with PTI, Aggarwal said that the university will focus on increasing communication channels with the students to resolve their issues and create a free atmosphere in the university. Aggarwal was responding to a question whether the varsity will consider withdrawing its earlier issued directive which barred students from taking part in protests and declare that they are not suffering from any “psychiatric or psychological disorder” at the time of admissions.

The directive, issued on July 28 last year, attracted widespread criticism for closing the avenues to fix accountability and transparency at the university and attempting to curtail the academic freedom of students.

“The universities are always run in a more friendly and communicative atmosphere. I have that experience and will work that way only,” Aggarwal said. “As far as my views are concerned, I think no protest is welcome...I believe whenever there is an issue in an educational institution, the best way is to communicate. So we’ll increase the communication channels even more,” he added. Speaking about the absence of a students union and teachers association in the university to raise their concerns to the administration,

Aggarwal said an educational institute doesn’t require such unions if there are mechanisms to hold dialogues.