Teachers, non-teaching staff, and students of Tezpur University in north-central Assam held a nine-hour hunger strike on Monday, December 15, 2025. They demanded quick action from the Union Ministry of Education against Vice Chancellor Shambhu Nath Singh, who has been absent from the campus for 388 days between April 2023 and September 2025. The university has been in crisis since September 22, when Mr. Singh allegedly insulted Assamese cultural icon Zubeen Garg, who died on September 19. This triggered accusations of corruption and mismanagement against the VC. A statement from the university’s apex body said, "The stakeholders of the University observed a fast to demand an immediate response from the Ministry of Education, which has been ignoring our growing frustration over its continued silence despite the sustained agitation and repeated appeals for the ouster of the Vice-Chancellor." They questioned the Ministry’s role in resolving the crisis. They added, "The responsibility of restoring academic and administrative normalcy lies with the Ministry," and demanded "a fair and unbiased high-level inquiry against Mr. Singh."