He is all of 22 and branded a Naxal sympathiser. While the law takes its own course, Vittala Malekudiya , a second semester journalism student of Mangalore University (MU) finds himself in no man's land. Accused of associating with the Maoists by the police , he returned from jail on bail only to find the university quibbling over attendance to give him his place in the next semester. His quest for higher learning – a dream that only he dared to pursue from among the Malekudiyas , tribals from deep inside the dense forests of the Western Ghats - suffering a setback, Vittala may have no choice but to return to the forests, where the Maoists are known to roam and the government may lose yet another opportunity to wean away youth from extremist influence in these parts, warn observers.

“He was treated like an anti- social element by the police and now the university is denying him his Constitutional right to higher education,” deplores Mr. Venu Sharma, chairman of the Media Alumni Association of the MCJ department, who finds such shortsightedness hard to understand when the government should be reaching out to students like Vittala to break the ice with the local villagers, who are caught between the Maoists and the police.

“Tribals should be given all posssible help like scholarships and jobs to help them join the mainstream. Unless we treat the tribals better we will not be able to arrest the Naxal menace in the Western Ghats,” he warns. Four months ago Vittala was like any other student until the police arrived at his doorstep, accusing him and his father, Linganna of providing Naxals food and shelter. They were arrested on March 3 from their house allegedly filled with Naxal pamphlets, in Kuthlur village of Belthangady taluk , Dakshina Kannada.

The father and son were released on conditional bail on July 5 after the police failed to chargesheet them in the stipulated 90 day period But when Vittala returned to the university and approached Vice Chancellor, Prof. T. C. Shivashankar Murthy he was told he could not be promoted to the third semester, which began on July 23, because he was short of attendance and would have to repeat the second semester if he wished to pursue his masters programme in mass communication and journalism. Head of the department of MCJ, Dr Waheeda Sultana said Vittala could not be promoted as he had less than 52 per cent attendance in all subjects against the minimum attendance of 75 per cent.

The decision has come in for strong criticism from experts and academicians who see it not only as unjust but also believe it could worsen the already strained ties between the administration and the locals in their fight against Naxalism in the Western Ghats.

“The university is taking shelter under rules when it could have made an exception in Vittala's case. He is being denied the opportunity to attend classes for no fault of his, which may put him off education altogether, ” fears a former member of the university's syndicate, P. V. Mohan. Vittala’s crisis reflects a socio-cultural problem, feels sociologist, Prof. G. K. Karanth from the Centre for Study of Social Change and Development (CSSCD) of the Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC).

“The university should have allowed Vittala to join the next semester with the rider that he must clear the exam and fulfill the norms for attendance in the coming weeks,” he believes. The higher education department for its part, claims it is ready to help Vittala if he approaches the government with his story. "We will consider Vittala’s problem if he comes to us," assures principal secretary, higher education, Siddaiah.