Jadavpur University: Students, teachers hold rallies; pressure VC to quit

Kolkata, Oct 16 (PTI) Building up pressure on Jadavpur University Vice-Chancellor Abhijit Chakrabarti to resign, students and teachers took out separate rallies in the campus as classes remained affected for the last one month. Marking the completion of one month of police crackdown against agitating students at the university, students brought out a fire-torch rally in the evening before sitting on a 24-hour-long hunger strike. As the whole campus was full of posters and graffiti, students walked in wearing black badges and burnt effigies of the VC and also shouted slogans demanding his resignation. [caption id=“attachment_1719129” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  A file photo of the unrest at the Jadavpur University. Image courtesy: IBNlive[/caption] Using creative means to protest, they came up with a large black chair which had hands dripped in red blood-like colour. “This is a symbolic chair for the VC,” said a student. Hardly a handful of classes were held as students continued with their class boycott call. Many, however, attended open-air classes and refused to give attendance in official records, as a mark of protest. The VC has stayed away from the campus which re-opened after the Durga Puja vacations and efforts to reach him failed as his phone was switched off. Teachers also took out a rally in the campus to protest against being blamed for the academic crisis in the reputed university. State education minister Partha Chatterjee, meanwhile, expressed surprise “why the students are attending classes under a tree and why not classroom. “Is it to get media attention?? He has already clarified that the government will not seek the VC’s resignation as he was appointed by the Chancellor. “A situation of mistrust has been created here. They are putting posters lampooning the Chief Minister. They should stay away from all this,” Chatterjee said.