New Delhi, July 3: Tension over the rustication of seven students at Jawaharlal Nehru University looks set to rise further with vice-chancellor B.B. Bhattacharya today asserting that he is unwilling to go back on his decision.

At a news conference, Bhattacharya termed “illegal” a hunger strike being observed by members of the JNU students’ union — a remark that has drawn further condemnation from the protesters.

Eleven students, four of whom were let off, had been issued showcause notices a fortnight ago after they surrounded the university registrar, blocking his car and shouting slogans for nearly six hours.

The union — controlled by the CPI(ML)-backed All India Students Association and the CPM-backed Students’ Federation of India — has been accusing the administration of violating labour rights of contract labourers.

For the past five months, the union has held protest marches on campus, sat on candlelight vigils outside the vice-chancellor’s home and plastered the university walls with posters levelling the accusation against the administration.

The administration had fired contract labourers seeking wage hikes last December — the union claims the workers had not been paid minimum wages.

Bhattacharya, however, dismissed the charge. “I assure you everyone contracted by JNU has wages above the minimum as laid out by the Centre. This is just a ruse to whip up student sentiment against the administration.”

The hunger strike — Bhattacharya asked the students to call it off — is only the latest in a nearly continuous series of battles the vice-chancellor has been fighting against the union since he took over in 2005.

The union has traditionally been extremely influential in JNU and has often had its way over the administration. For example: four years ago, the administration wanted to introduce Coca-Cola vending machines on campus, but backed off in the face of protests from the union.