Jadavpur students may boycott Convocation

December 19, 2014 07:58 am | Updated 07:58 am IST - Kolkata

Keshari Nath Tripathi

Keshari Nath Tripathi

Nearly three months after the students of the Jadavpur University protested against the use of force on campus, the students and authorities are all set for another showdown over the annual Convocation of the University scheduled on December 24.

While a majority of students are likely to boycott the convocation, Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi, who is also the Chancellor of the University, said on Thursday that law will take its own course if the students disrupt the convocation.

Asked if the students fail to take their degrees at the convocation, the Chancellor said that the degrees will be sent to them by post. “Even after that if they do not want to accept it, then it will be stamped on the certificate that the student has boycotted the Convocation,” the Governor said.

Earlier Mr Tripathi had ruled out a proposal from Vice Chancellor Abjijit Chakrabarti to hold the Convocation outside the University campus.

The University had also faced considerable difficulty in getting dignitaries to deliver the Convocation address as some people expressed their unavailability during the convocation.

Commenting on the remarks made by the Chancellor, general secretary of Jadavpur University Teachers Association (JUTA) Nilanjana Gupta said that what is written on students’ certificate is decided by University’s Court, the highest decision making body of the University.

“To boycott is a democratic right of an individual, but to say that it will have a bearing on the student’s career is injustice,” Ms Gupta said.

The students are yet to take a formal decision on the situation which has arisen after the Chancellor’s comments.

“We will convene a general body meeting on December 22 and discuss the issue,” said Geetoshree Sarkar, general secretary of the Arts Faculty Student Union.

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