Sehore: Lugging along trolleys, dozens of students stand under the shade of bougainvillea clusters, glancing at their phones. They are waiting for buses or cabs, so they can reach the Bhopal railway station.
Students have been leaving the sprawling Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) campus in Madhya Pradesh’s Sehore after a violent protest erupted over allegations of a jaundice outbreak caused by contaminated food and water there.
“Ab bas ghar lautna chahte hai, yahan ka mahaul kharab ho chuka hai (now, I just want to go back home. The campus atmosphere is not good),” said Aryan, a student waiting near the main gate to leave for Delhi, on Thursday.
The protests began on Tuesday night in Block 6 after some students fell ill. As hundreds gathered, a scuffle erupted and rapidly spiralled into violence, with clashes being reported on campus and vehicles set alight.
“After that incident my parents suggested that I should come back,” Aryan, a third-year-student, said while handling his luggage.
By Thursday morning, students from all 10 hostel blocks were streaming out with their belongings.
The VIT administration initially declared a holiday until 30 November before extending it to 8 December. Examinations originally scheduled for 4 December were also postponed.
“Dear students, you can go ahead and plan your holidays accordingly,” read an e-mail from the university administration accessed by ThePrint.
University Registrar K.K. Nair said more than 4,000 students had left the hostels on the first day after Tuesday’s violence. “We did not tell students to leave,” he said, insisting the departures were voluntary.
Harsh, a resident of Haryana, said of the hasty departure, “Leaving our space is not so easy. We have spent years here and we never thought we would leave in these circumstances.”
On Thursday, dozens of auto-rickshaws, battery rickshaws and taxis lined up outside the campus, with drivers demanding premium fares.
“They charged double or triple to drop off the nearest railway stations,” said Puja, another student who was waiting for a vehicle to reach the Bhopal railway station.
Abhishek Kumar, a student standing outside Block 8 waiting for a cab, said he had booked a tatkal railway ticket. “In any case I have to leave the campus immediately, so I booked a ticket by paying extra,” he said.
Others said they walked a kilometre to reach the bus stop from their hostel to avoid inflated fares.
The campus, which houses approximately 12,000 students from across the country, now stands largely empty. “I will never forget this painful time. Suddenly our peace has stolen,” said Punnet, another student.
(Edited by Prerna Madan)