Bengal BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari.
Credit: PTI Photo
BJP MLAs in the West Bengal Assembly on Tuesday raised slogans inside the House and then protested on the porch over the recent death of a student at Jadavpur University, allegedly related to ragging.
Permitted to speak on the subject by the Speaker, BJP MLA and Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly Suvendu Adhikari alleged that the university had become a a base for individuals who harbour ultra-left mindsets and at times make anti-national statements.
Adhikari said that UGC norms and even the state government’s directives from higher education department, which other state universities adhere to, have not been followed at Jadavpur University for long periods of time.
Several public interest petitions had been filed earlier, and former Chief Justice (of Calcutta High Court) Manjula Chellur had given certain directives for the university, but these have not been implemented. Commenting on the same, Adhikari questioned the education minister and why the aforementioned directives had not been implemented.
He questioned why Abhijit Chakrabarti, former vice chancellor of the university, was removed from his post before completion of his tenure. He also enquired what steps the government is taking after the incident.
Bratya Basu, the state education minister, said that a five-member team that included ministers and legislators has met the family and expressed solidarity. Speaking about the steps taken by the state government, Basu mentioned that in the context of tackling ragging, Supreme Court directives and recommendations of Raghavan Committee that had been constituted by apex court had been shared with the 30 universities in the state.
The minister said that despite these directives, ragging has thrived at prominent universities across the country. Basu said that a ragging allegation had surfaced, recently, at IIT-Kharagpur.
Basu added that the new state Governor, C V Ananda Bose, without going into any discussion with the state government, appointed Vice-Chancellors to universities. At Jadavpur University, the governor had appointed a VC, and then removed him later. The minister held that the Governor (and his actions) was responsible for the consequences.
The minister further said that a fact-finding committee had been constituted, and has submitted a report.
Calling the incident unfortunate, the minister said that attempts at intruding into universities while keeping this incident into focus, is not appropriate. Basu said he favoured free-thinking, yet arbitrariness has to be checked in universities, be those under the state, or under the Centre.