THE Himachal Pradesh state secretariat of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has strongly condemned the despotic state government run by the Congress party for its midnight scoop on September 20, in which it lifted eight protesting girls from the HPU campus. This shows the desperation in which the government is working in connivance with the HPU authorities to cow down the popular voice of the students who are protesting against the phenomenally large increase in the fees of various courses in the undergraduate and post graduate. The government instead of speaking to the agitating students who have several times apprised the authorities, has resorted to arbitrarily thrusting the high fees structure and with the use of police force has tried to mellow down their voice. Not just that the government has turned the HPU campus into a police fortress and is on an arrest spree where students are being arrested not just from the campus but even from the buses in which they were travelling towards the campus. It seems the government has declared a state of emergency in which no one is allowed to raise their voice. This high handedness will not be tolerated and shall be opposed by the people of the state. The CPI(M) has stated that the HPU authorities in connivance with the state government have enacted the script of the present chaos that began with the incumbent vice chancellor. The VC who is an architect of neo-liberal paradigm has brought a sea change in the fee structure. There has been an increase from 50% to 2000% in various streams and subjects which is being vociferously opposed by the student’s community. To ensure that there is a minimum opposition to it, the government and the HPU authorities working in tandem have also banned the students union elections as the elected mandate would have thrown the government on the back foot. Therefore there is a strong relationship between the fee hike and not holding of elections. The government is hell-bent in implementing its anti-student and anti-people policies to which the VC is an important counterpart. A bare look at the fee structure would explain everything. The CPI(M) has asked the government to immediately remove the present vice chancellor who has a track record of controversies and corruption. He was terminated in Madhya Pradesh while serving as the VC in one of the universities due to his nefarious designs. There is a long list of charges being framed by the university community against the VC for his corrupt and malpractices in the past which includes illegal recruitment, irregularities in appointments, violation of UGC rules in appointments of various professors, favouring RSS and other BJP cadre people for appointment as various officers at IIHS, serious discrimination against teachers belonging to SC and ST categories, violation and corruption in the governing of private educational institutions, financial irregularities etc. The government it seems is enjoying a symbiotic relationship with the VC and both are enjoying the loot of the resources of the university. The CPI(M) has also ridiculed the so-called resignation drama of some of the officials of the HPU. However it needs to be ascertained whether they have actually resigned or not as two of them are not even in the town. These officers have been appointed politically either by the BJP or the Congress during their terms. They are drawing huge salaries worth more than Rs One lakh and have been spreading political hatred in the campus. Some of them have been appointed bypassing all norms and are more than eager to appease their political masters than to work judiciously in the campus. Their performance should be rated and should be brought before the people. The CPI(M) has once again asked the government to settle this issue and bring the students to talks around the table instead of using the force which quite reminiscent of the erstwhile British raj. Neither the British raj succeeded nor will the present one with their draconian moves and despotic methods. The Party has also asked the government to be wise enough and release all the arrested students forthwith.