Border cops guarding VC Trivedi
Vice Chancellor Parimal Trivedi moves around with a contingent of gun-toting securitymen, including Border Wing jawans, far in excess of the threat he faces
By Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Monday, January 19, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20Latest§id=2&contentid=200901192009011920073861269d77e1b)
Don’t mistake him for a politician from the badlands of Bihar, under threat from the local mafia, or a top cop striding out of his office with a posse of senior cops in tow. He is Parimal Trivedi, vice-chancellor of Gujarat University, who’s strutting around with a contingent o
f securitymen, including Border Wing jawans, totalling as many as 13 of them. Trivedi is guarded by three Border Wing jawans and three policemen, besides his own private security men, while he is in the university, and three jawans and four cops when he is at home. So, he must be a marked man, the prime target of his many enemies. That’s not the case, says University police station inspector B M Rajpura. “The university senate elections are nearing and students are agitating over various issues, which is why we have stepped up the VC’s security.”
Parimal Trivedi flanked by Border Wing jawans in the university. Asked why Border Wing jawans had to be posted, Rajpura said, “We did not have adequate number of SRP personnel, hence we deployed BW jawans.” Border Wing is a para-military force, and its jawans are highly-trained and well-equipped. The jawans guarding Trivedi carry SLRs (automatic weapons), while the cops around him too are armed with rifles.This, apart from university’s own guards and innumerable private security men under contract at the vice-chancellor’s disposal.
Ahmedabad Mirror had reported on May 13, 2008 that the university spends Rs 23 lakh on the VC’s security, including the bouncers that were hired to flank him. According to the latest figures, the university spends about Rs 52 lakh on its security, of which a large part is apportioned to the VC.
VC’s work place and residence look more like fortresses. Everyday, a high-ranking police officer visits him to see if all’s right with the security apparatusParimal Trivedi’s work place and residence look more like fortresses than office and home. Everyday, a high-ranking police officer visits him at the university and home to see if all’s right with the security apparatus.
Sources said VC’s security was enhanced after an incident on January 7 when he was heckled and locked up inside his office by ABVP activists, who were demanding that he accept some students’ names in the voters’ list after the deadline had passed. A few days ago, some unruly students had also hurled expletives at him outside the university.
Even so, the sheer numbers of gun-toting men hanging around him make it an overkill. Clearly, it’s more for awe and a show of trappings of power, out-stripping the threat perception by far. How else do you explain the need for so many teams — posted outside his chamber, accompanying him wherever he goes, lounging in the varsity compound, and hanging around at his home.Parimal Trivedi was not available for comment despite AM’s several attempts to reach him.However, talking to AM, university syndicate member Manish Doshi said, “The communication between the university on one hand and the students, professors and employees on the other has broken down. This is why the VC is having to hide behind security personnel. Never before has any VC ever felt the need for so much security.”
By Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Monday, January 19, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20Latest§id=2&contentid=200901192009011920073861269d77e1b)
Don’t mistake him for a politician from the badlands of Bihar, under threat from the local mafia, or a top cop striding out of his office with a posse of senior cops in tow. He is Parimal Trivedi, vice-chancellor of Gujarat University, who’s strutting around with a contingent o
f securitymen, including Border Wing jawans, totalling as many as 13 of them. Trivedi is guarded by three Border Wing jawans and three policemen, besides his own private security men, while he is in the university, and three jawans and four cops when he is at home. So, he must be a marked man, the prime target of his many enemies. That’s not the case, says University police station inspector B M Rajpura. “The university senate elections are nearing and students are agitating over various issues, which is why we have stepped up the VC’s security.”Parimal Trivedi flanked by Border Wing jawans in the university. Asked why Border Wing jawans had to be posted, Rajpura said, “We did not have adequate number of SRP personnel, hence we deployed BW jawans.” Border Wing is a para-military force, and its jawans are highly-trained and well-equipped. The jawans guarding Trivedi carry SLRs (automatic weapons), while the cops around him too are armed with rifles.This, apart from university’s own guards and innumerable private security men under contract at the vice-chancellor’s disposal.
Ahmedabad Mirror had reported on May 13, 2008 that the university spends Rs 23 lakh on the VC’s security, including the bouncers that were hired to flank him. According to the latest figures, the university spends about Rs 52 lakh on its security, of which a large part is apportioned to the VC.
VC’s work place and residence look more like fortresses. Everyday, a high-ranking police officer visits him to see if all’s right with the security apparatusParimal Trivedi’s work place and residence look more like fortresses than office and home. Everyday, a high-ranking police officer visits him at the university and home to see if all’s right with the security apparatus.
Sources said VC’s security was enhanced after an incident on January 7 when he was heckled and locked up inside his office by ABVP activists, who were demanding that he accept some students’ names in the voters’ list after the deadline had passed. A few days ago, some unruly students had also hurled expletives at him outside the university.
Even so, the sheer numbers of gun-toting men hanging around him make it an overkill. Clearly, it’s more for awe and a show of trappings of power, out-stripping the threat perception by far. How else do you explain the need for so many teams — posted outside his chamber, accompanying him wherever he goes, lounging in the varsity compound, and hanging around at his home.Parimal Trivedi was not available for comment despite AM’s several attempts to reach him.However, talking to AM, university syndicate member Manish Doshi said, “The communication between the university on one hand and the students, professors and employees on the other has broken down. This is why the VC is having to hide behind security personnel. Never before has any VC ever felt the need for so much security.”
