Visva Bharati impasse: Protesting students claim shutting down of institution

KOLKATA: A section of students of the prestigious Visva Bharati University on Monday claimed they had forced closure of the institution demanding revocation of suspension orders handed down to seven students on disciplinary grounds. The students also demanded a decision to sack senior faculty member and Economics professor Sudipta Bhattacharya, should be revoked.

However, a Visva Bharati spokesperson told PTI only few students joined such protests and classes were being conducted in different departments of the central university "smoothly".

Visva Bharati SFI leader Somnath Sow said on behalf of the protesting students that the university has been shut down due to the agitation Monday and they would continue protests till the "undemocratic act of suspension" of classmates and sacking of Prof Bhattacharya is revoked.

Sow is among the seven suspended students. The action against the students and Bhattacharya, in end-December, was preceded by gheraos, sit-ins and rallies inside the campus where the VC and his security guards were allegedly manhandled by protesters twice, forcing the central university to scrap the annual convocation and the heritage Poush Utsav.

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Trashing the claim by Sow, Visva Bharati spokesperson Mahua Banerjee told PTI "very few students" were holding scattered protests. She claimed this has not disrupted the academic and administrative functioning of the institution. "I have personally visited the campus, classes are being held as scheduled. If one or two classes could not be held, that is a usual occurrence," she said.

To a question, Banerjee said none of the seven students have apologised for their past conduct as directed by the Visva Bharati authorities and hence there was no question of withdrawing the suspension against them. The students initially started their agitation demanding hostel accommodation for outstation batchmates, protesting alleged vindictive actions by the VC and public humiliation of some faculty members.