SANTINIKETAN: Campus protests erupted at Visva-Bharati on Saturday against the rustication of three students. A dharna was held near the official residence of vice chancellor Bidyut Chakraborty. Students raised slogans near the main gate and wrote graffiti against the VC.
The trio, who were part of the agitation, were initially suspended for eight months and then rusticated for three years for alleged indiscipline. At least two professors have also been suspended on similar charges in other incidents.
A makeshift tent erected on Friday night was turned into a bigger pandal to accommodate more students and Visva Bharati University Faculty Association (VBUFA)-linked teachers, who have supported the stir. Security arrangements were beefed up at ‘Purbita’, the VC’s official residence.
Somnath Sou, one of the three rusticated students, said it was not clear why the action was taken. “Some of the members of so-called inquiry committee are themselves accused in various cases. We wanted to submit our explanation but they didn’t allow us to. Moreover, the university committee couldn’t file any chargesheet against us. They didn’t issue any show-cause either or follow any formal rule. They have taken action against us on the basis of unknown eyewitnesses,” he said.
VBUFA president Sudipto Bhattacharya, who is currently under suspension, said teachers have extended active support to the protests initiated by the student body. “Our members will take part in a dharna and other programmes. We want to save Visva-Bharati,” he said.
A senior university official said: “Since the beginning of Visva-Bharati, a section of people with vested interests always try to create anarchy in the name of agitation. Almost all previous vice chancellors had the same experience. This is another attempt but we are bound by the statute of the university.”
Tensions have been rising at V-B for the last two years over dismissals and suspensions of both students and teachers. A number of complaints have been lodged at Bolpur police station and cases are pending in Calcutta High Court.
The vice chancellor’s initiative to regain encroached land of the university also caused resentment among a section of Santiniketan residents. In the last assembly election campaign at Bolpur, V-B was made an issue by both Trinamool and BJP. Left parties and TMC had alleged that during Chakraborty’s tenure, there was an attempt to ‘saffronize’ Visva Bharati. Left students’ unions organized ‘solidarity rallies’ at different universities across the state over the last two days.
