Observing that normalcy be restored in the Jadavpur University, the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday directed that agitating students will not block the entry of faculty members, staff and willing students into the campus.
In the order, the division bench of Chief Justice Manjulla Chellur ajnd Justice Asim Chatterjee also pointed out that police pickets be set up outside the University’s main gate. Outsiders willing to enter the University will have to obtain a pass, the Court which is hearing a public interest litigation on the impasse at JU said.
The students of the University are boycotting classes since September 17 in protest against the police crackdown on agitating students who were demanding an impartial probe into molestation of a University student within the campus on August 28. After the police action students are demanding the resignation of Vice-Chancellor Abhijit Chakrabarti. The students are opposing the Vice-Chancellor’s entry into the campus and Mr,. Chakrabarti has not entered the campus since then.
Meanwhile, Jadavpur police station officials summoned 15 students in connection with the molestation case of a University student Sources said the police summoned them to probe the molestation incident and a majority of those summoned have not named them in her FIR. The case has been transferred to the Detective Department and the Women’s Grievance Cell of the Kolkata Police.
Mass convention While the student’s father did a U-turn on Monday and withdrew his demand of resignation of JU Vice Chancellor urging the agitating students to withdraw the ongoing academic strike, the students held a mass convention inside the varsity on Wednesday to widen their ambit of support.
Keeping in mind the protest’s spread throughout the country, the event was streamed live online.
When former student Partha Chatterjee came to know about the police crackdown, his mind rushed back to his own student life during the 1970’s.
“In 1978, when I was a student here, a police crackdown took place. Some students were agitating as a large number of students had fared poorly in the examinations and were seeking retests. When the incident took place I was outside the campus but could not enter as the police had locked the gates,” Mr. Chatterjee said.
Many alumni, like Mr. Chatterjee, gathered on the campus to show their solidarity to the ongoing agitations. While civil society activists performed songs, with protest and struggle as the central theme, students from other colleges condemned being labelled as ‘outsiders’ and pledged their support. Theatre and film personalities also made an appearance in the convention. Members of the Jadavpur University Teacher’s Association (JUTA), also took to the stage to criticise Prof. Chakrabarti.
