A gold medallist in M.Sc Electronic Media from the Pondicherry University has decided to reject her medal and not attend the convocation to be held on Monday. President Ram Nath Kovind is scheduled to preside over the convocation.
Karthika B. Kurup said she was registering her protest and pushing for withdrawal of the Citizenship Amendment Act, and the proposed National Register of Citizens. Ms. Kurup first posted her decision as her WhatsApp status message on Saturday and it went viral by late evening.
Ms. Kurup, who completed her Masters last year and was awarded a gold medal, told The Hindu, “It is my personal choice. It is my democratic right to protest against a law which is against humanity and unconstitutional.”
Upset that the government did not show the decency to listen to the protesting students or other citizens, she said, “I will not accept the degree until the government withdraws the legislation.”
The Pondicherry University Students Union had on Friday exhorted students to boycott the convocation. Following the Union call, PhD student A.S.Arun Kumar from the anthropology department, also decided to stay away. “I want to express my anger against the CAA and the brutal way the Central government cracked down the students protest in New Delhi . So I have decided not to accept my degree from the President,” he said.
Mr. Arun Kumar also announced his decision through a WhatsApp message, claiming it was in solidarity with the students protesting against CAA across the country. “When the entire country is burning, I do not want to rejoice by accepting the degree. I will get it once the government agrees to amend the wrong done to the country,” he added.
A senior administrative official in PU said the University had not received any communication from the students who had announced their call to boycott. “We have announced the list of medal winners and first rank holders in the University website. The students themselves have registered in the website for the convocation,” he said.
