Jadavpur University students stage protest in Kolkata
Thousands of students of Kolkata's Jadavpur University marched from the Nandan complex to Mayo Road on Saturday evening, demanding the resignation of vice chancellor Abhijit Chakraborti who had called the police to break up a student protest on Tuesday night. The students alleged that the police entered the campus and manhandled them.
The students took out the march in a deluge of rain that could have turned the rally into a wash out. But failed. Kolkata has not seen a spontaneous, apparently non-political rally of this size and energy in some time.
Jadavpur University students were not alone. Former students also hit the streets in New Delhi, marching to Banga Bhavan to voice their solidarity. Students in Siliguri, too, held a protest rally.
The maha michil was stopped by a huge police barricade at Gandhi statue on Mayo Road. From there, a team of seven students went to Raj Bhavan to meet the Governor K N Tripathi who is also the Chancellor of Jadavpur University and put forth their grievances. The Chancellor patiently listened to them and advised them to maintain discipline and to restore peaceful academic atmosphere in the university from Monday.
Mr Chakraborti has, meanwhile, said that he called the police and asked them to rescue him and his staff after being gheraoed for 10 to 12 hours. He said he was worried about women members of the faculty who were stuck. He also said he called the police because he feared for his life. The police said they had to act after the vice chancellor's written request. Also, the police was getting reports that there were outsiders inside and outside the campus with weapons. The students have dismissed these charges.