'Not an act of grace, but admission of guilt': AAP on Centre's rollback of Panjab University order

Chandigarh, Nov 7 (PTI) The ruling AAP on Friday said the Centre's decision to rescind its notification altering the constitution and composition of the Panjab University Senate and Syndicate was not an act of generosity, but an "admission of guilt".

In a post on X, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and MP Malvinder Singh Kang said the university is “the living conscience of Punjab -- resilient, free and unyielding”, asserting that “any hand that dares to subvert it must know: Punjab resists, and Punjab remembers.” The Ministry of Education on Friday announced that the notification changing the constitution and composition of the Panjab University Senate and Syndicate stands rescinded.

"The @BJP4India, led Central Government's withdrawal of its order on @OfficialPU is not an act of grace, it is an admission of guilt," Kang, the MP from Sri Anandpur Sahib, posted on X.

He said the attempt to "rewrite the university's Senate and Syndicate was a brazen assault on its autonomy and democratic character".

"Panjab University (established in 1882), older than the Republic itself, cannot be reduced to a pawn in the BJP's political experiments. This rollback came only after massive resistance from every Punjabi who stood firm for Punjab's dignity and the University's legacy," Kang said.

He said while their collective voice has prevailed, "justice still demands accountability." "Who delayed the Senate elections? Who authorised this unconstitutional overreach? Who tried to trample the University's autonomy? Punjab will not accept silence as an answer. Retraction is not redemption -- accountability must follow," he said.

Kang, who is also a former president of Panjab University Students Council, said the university is the living conscience of Punjab -- resilient, free, and unyielding.

"And any hand that dares to subvert it must know, Punjab resists, and Punjab remembers," Kang said.

Panjab University's decision to replace the 59-year-old Senate and Syndicate with a smaller, largely nominated structure triggered sharp political reactions in Punjab.

The AAP, the Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) opposed the Centre's move of restructuring the university's governing bodies -- Senate and Syndicate -- via a notification dated October 28, with Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann calling it unconstitutional.

On Thursday, a delegation of the Punjab Aam Aadmi Party met Governor Gulab Chand Kataria and sought the withdrawal of the Centre's notification.

The order amended the Panjab University Act, 1947, reducing the size of the Senate, an apex government body, to 31, doing away with elections for its executive body, the syndicate. PTI SUN RHL