In a shocking incident, the ‘students’ of the controversial Jadavpur University on Thursday decided not only to “rusticate” West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar as chancellor of the university but also to “disown him as the state governor”.
Reportedly, the decision to “rusticate” the Governor was taken over a host of issues including his stand on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The decision comes after Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar was not allowed to enter the campus to attend the Jadavpur University convocation on Tuesday.
The resolution addressed to the “ex-chancellor” Jagdeep Dhankhar claimed that the governor was present in the university on September 19 “along with miscreants who hurled bombs, sexually assaulted women and vandalized sections of the university”. The letter further claimed that Dhankhar had arrived uninvited to the university on December 22.
“We have investigated your behaviour and motives and concluded that they are shameless attempts to seek attention from students, thereby wasting our valuable time,” said the letter, which was released to the media on Thursday.
“Keeping the above in mind, you are being informed of your rustication from the position of chancellor of JU. The students’ body of Jadavpur University has also decided to disown you from the position of the Governor of West Bengal,” the letter added.
Reportedly, the letter claimed the students cannot attach “an unblemished character certificate” to him and questions him on his general knowledge, strengths, sense of history and overall character. JU’s Arts Faculty Students Union secretary Debraj Debnath said this resolution will not be sent to the governor. Students claimed this was more to record their protest against the chancellor.
Earlier on Monday. West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar was shown black flags and greeted with “go back” slogans at Jadavpur University when he arrived on the campus to attend a meeting. The ‘students’ had reportedly surrounded the car, heckled the Governor when his convoy arrived at the university, to attend the annual convocation ceremony.
In an e-mail to Raj Bhavan on December 24, the day Dhankhar was prevented by protesters from attending the annual convocation of the university, the Arts Faculty Students Union (AFSU) said, “Sir, you are not welcome in our campus.”
The ‘rustication’ of the chancellor is on the lines of an alleged letter issued by ‘students’, academics and staff of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) expelling the Vice-Chancellor Tariq Mansoor and Registrar S Abdul Hamid from the university and giving them till January 5 to vacate or face a boycott. However, the AMU student union later disassociated itself from the letter.
The ultra-left wing Jadavpur university is known for violent protests and vandalism inside the university campus. This was not the first time when the communist and Trinamool student activists at Jadavpur University have resorted to such hooliganism.
In September this year, Union Minister Babul Supriyo was also kept captive at the campus for over five hours by the pre-planned and coordinated efforts of left-wing students and activists when the minister had gone there to perform at a fresher’s welcome function organised by ABVP. He was heckled, pushed by pro-Naxal activists at Jadavpur University, preventing him from entering the campus.
