Jadavpur University VC allowed to leave after 30-hr gherao

Kolkata: Amidst agitations by the Jadavpur University’s students and teachers in protest against the authorities’ decision to scrap admission tests for undergraduate courses of six humanities subjects, vice-chancellor Suranjan Das on Friday met the Chancellor and Governor K N Tripathi.

Mr Das called on Tripathi hours after he and other university officials were allowed to leave by members of the Arts Faculty Students Union (AFSU) who gheraoed them for around 30 hours from July 4. “No comments,” the vice-chancellor told reporters waiting outside Rajbhavan when asked about his meeting with the governor.  

Officials of the state-run university said Mr Tripathi wanted to know from the VC about the recent developments at the university in the wake of scrapping of admission test to six humanities subjects by the executive council (EC) and subsequent agitation by students and the teachers belonging to the Jadavpur University Teachers Association (JUTA).

The EC is the highest policy making body of the JU and the AFSU members gheraoed its members after they decided to scrap the admission test system “for this year only” on the evening of July 4. They were allowed to leave late last night.

“We allowed the VC and other EC members to leave at around 11.45 pm yesterday. But our demonstration before the Aurobindo Bhavan (the main administrative building) will continue till the EC withdraws its decision to scrap the entrance tests,” AFSU chairperson Somashree Choudhury said. Stating that the AFSU would not obstruct the movement of anyone, Ms Choudhury said that various students’ bodies of the JU observed a class boycott today to press for their demand.

“We had told the VC last night that we can take any drastic step after 24 hours, if the authorities did not re-introduce the admission tests, and announce a decision at the earliest,” she said.  Ms Choudhury claimed the AFSU has the moral support of the JUTA and the non-teaching staff on this issue.    

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