The All Revolutionary Party (AKP) has been locking down Tribhuvan University for the past nine days. The Krantikari have locked down the offices of the Vice Chancellor, Rector, Registrar and others, alleging that the agreement has not been implemented.

Due to the lockdown, Vice Chancellor Deepak Aryal, Rector Khadga KC and Registrar Kedar Rijal have not been able to go to their offices since December 19. They have been working in other bodies of the university. Vice Chancellor Aryal said that he has been working in different dean's offices and departments and performing his daily work. 'Despite the lockdown, we have not allowed daily administrative work to stop.' But the lockdown in educational institutions has not sent a good message. Some work, including international coordination, has been stopped,' he said.

Vice Chancellor Aryal said that despite informal talks with the students of the revolutionary movement who are locking up, no conclusion could be reached. 'We are taking initiatives in various ways to open the lockdown. We are positive towards the demand.' The problem could have been resolved by forming a negotiation committee after the lock was opened,' he said, 'Since the students did not agree, that too has not been possible.' Vice Chancellor Aryal said that homework is also being done to form a committee to study the demand itself. 'The demand made by the students is related to the financial aspect. A decision cannot be made on the issue of financial administration in a hurry,' he said, 'We expect the lock to be opened in a day or two.'

Dinesh Air, the chairman of the TU committee of the Krantikari, said that they were forced to lock the doors because the agreement was not implemented. He said that the agreement to reduce the fees of the departments of International Relations and Diplomacy, Gender Studies, Social Work and Conflict, Peace and Development Studies has not been implemented. TU had created these four departments to be run as self-sufficient programs through the budget and programs. The Krantikari had earlier protested for 34 days demanding a reduction in fees.

Even though the Supreme Court ordered not to lock the university, the Vice-Chancellor and other officials have been criticized for neglecting to open it with the help of the administration. ‘When the Tribhuvan University Service Commission was locked, the lock was opened with the help of the administration within 1 day.’ This time, it has taken two weeks. There has been no dialogue with those who locked it, nor has there been any initiative to open it with the help of the administration,’ said a professor. Vice-Chancellor Aryal had said a week ago that the student organization had been urged to open the lock and that if they refused, they would open it with the help of the administration.

Last Asad, the Supreme Court had issued an interim order to open it when the Tribhuvan University was locked for a month. The Supreme Court’s interim order was to not lock/unlock the names of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Police Headquarters and Police Circle Kirtipur, and to open/unlock if it was locked. After the order was given by the bench of Judge Nripadhwaj Niraula, the people who locked it, including the revolutionaries, opened it themselves.

Advocate Mahesh Bhattarai had filed a writ petition naming the Ministry of Home Affairs, Police Headquarters, District Administration Office, Kathmandu, Police Circle Kirtipur, Vice Chancellor, Registrar's Office as respondents. At that time, there was a partial lockout in the name of the Professors' Association, Akhil Krantikari and Navy Union. There were separate lockouts in the offices of the Vice Chancellor, Registrar, Rector and Service Commission.

Chairman Air said that students were suffering due to the neglect of the concerned bodies to implement the agreement. Krantikari has demanded that the departments' teaching and learning be conducted in the morning session as well. ‘By not implementing the agreed upon matter, the future of the students has been played with,’ the statement of Krantikari said, ‘We hereby inform you that the lockout has been imposed until the re-admission notice is issued in accordance with the agreement, with the admission of the first semester in this academic session and the teaching and learning activities will be held in the new building.’

Krantikari has also informed the Minister of Education and Pro-Chancellor Mahabir Pun about its demands and the lockout. Submitting a letter of attention on Friday, Krantikari has demanded that the fees of the 4 departments be adjusted in the same way as other departments. The ANNFSU has issued a statement suggesting the formation of a fee review and adjustment committee to resolve the dispute. ‘The ANNFSU Tribhuvan District Committee urges all parties concerned to immediately end impractical, undemocratic activities such as lockout and move towards resolving the problem through peaceful dialogue, discussion and consensus,’ the statement issued by President Balkrishna Wali said.