Barely three months after the 49-day strike was called off by the Shivaji Vidyapeeth Sevak Sangh (SVSS), than the V-C hatao campaign has gained momentum yet again. The SVSS from Sunday has launched another stir to protest against the suspension of the security officer S K Patil and demand pension for the administrative staff.

The battle is not restricted between the eighth Vice-Chancellor of the 33-year old university and the non-teaching staff alone. Spilling onto the streets, the V-C hatao demand had even been raised by Kolhapur Municipal Corporation and Zilla Parishad, with the Congress city unit chief R K Pawar and Mayor Shivajirao Kadam leading the agitation andcalling for a Kolhapur Bandh on July 18.

Within two and a half years, Dhanagare, who heads the varsity has upset the apple cart and did not heed Chancellor and Maharashtra Governor Dr P.C.Alexander's words -- "This is a city of strong-willed politicians, be careful." The V-C's confrontationist stance and an unwillingness to sign on the dotted line had several college managements up in arms.

What has really sparked off an unholy row is the Karveervasis' resentment of the "outsider" Dhanagare whose "arrogant" behaviour and "objectionable" statements at public functions has clinched the unstoppable demand for his ouster from a sizable section. Statements which have widely been reported in the local press like "Higher education is limited to a particular class", "Karmaveer Bhaurao Patil was not such a great educationist" and "Those staying in Shivaji and Mangalwar Peth are rude and high-handed" have only added fuel to the fire. While the Vice-Chancellor refutes charges, specially the one where he is accusedof stating that "Kolhapur does not have culture".

"I had only said those who cannot differentiate between anger and anguish should raise their level of cultural understanding," Dhanagare insists. Baba Sawant, President of SVSS said, "Our 28 demands are still pending and yet to be implemented. We wrote 43 letters calling for the V-C's attention. Instead of appointing a committee to probe the V-C's arbitrary style of functioning, a committee consisting of Chief Justice (retd) P.S.Shah, Sharad Upasani and R.G.Deshmukh was appointed with terms of reference as giving recommendations of improving mutual relations between the management and the non-teaching staff and to probe what caused the sudden demise of one of the founding members of SVSS V.R.Patil."

Prohibitory orders were clamped at the university campus, the convocation ceremony was boycotted, the untimely death of Patil during the meeting with the V-C after a gap of eight months still continues to exact an emotional toll among the minds of thenon-teaching staff, the Congress is still smarting on the University's refusal to lend them the grounds for hosting Sonia Gandhi's rally while the V-C tom-toms the support he garners from the varsity's authoritative bodies and the 8000-strong Shivaji University Teachers Association (SUTA).

The V-C who doesn't hesitate to point out the unholy nexus between corrupt officers at the varsity and the college managements, feels convinced of having set in motion a "certain process of transformation." The ongoing July strike is likely to delay the results. Karveervasis refuse to forgive. No, the V-C has to go they howl. Will the Chief Minister intervene yet again? The story has come full circle...

(TO BE CONCLUDED)