A well-known professor of the reputed Jadavpur University — which witnessed the death of a first-year student earlier this month due to ragging — was removed from his post and reinstated within a matter of hours, which he said had been done due to his criticism of the university administration over the incident.
“The blame lies with the incompetence of the authorities,” Imankalyan Lahiri, Head of the Department of International Relations at the university, had said about the August 10 death of Swapnadip Kundu, a first-year undergraduate student of Bengali, hailing from Nadia district, who had fallen from the balcony of his university hostel while he was allegedly being teased for being gay.
Prof. Lahiri was not only openly critical of the university authorities — saying they were leading to the decline of the prestigious institution — but he had also, at the time, demanded the resignation of the Registrar for allegedly attending a lunch invitation by availing sick leave at a time when the death of the student had taken place.
He said that on Monday evening, around 7.30 p.m., he had been informed personally by a member of the Personnel Department that he was to be replaced as the Head of the Department of International Relations. But five hours later, at about half an hour past midnight, Prof. Lahiri said he received an official communication, which said he was being reinstated.
“I have already completed two years as HoD and I am supposed to step down anyway, then why this sudden removal and equally sudden reinstatement? It is clearly because of my criticism of the university authorities for the ragging incident. Then they must have realised they are not doing it the right way. We must save this university. This is one of the few educational institutions where even students from rural backgrounds come and get decent education — we must save it from getting ruined,” Prof. Lahiri said.
The university authorities, when reached for comment on why the professor was suddenly removed and reinstated, did not respond to phone calls.
