JU fracas continues

Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, March 13, 2007
The lecturer of Jadavpur University’s (JU) English department, Monojit Mandal on Tuesday, refused to submit the sixteen ‘disputed’ answer scripts of PG students to the university. The agitated students are now considering going to the chancellor of the university, governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi and seek his help to ensure that the papers are rescued and results published at the earliest.
The students and teachers of the department submitted a joint memorandum to the vice chancellor in presence of other top authorities of the university asking him to rescue the answer scripts at the earliest and publish the results. On Monday, professor S.K. Shanyal, vice chancellor of the university had sent a letter to Mondol asking him to submit all the answer scripts by 11 am on Tuesday. But Mandal has decided not to part with the original answer scripts since that would become ‘crucial evidence’ when the case opens at High Court.
Mandal now suspects university authorities might consider suspending him for this act but feels that he had no other option. Mandal’s wife Baisakhi Banerjee said, “My husband has not submitted the original answer scripts but has sent a letter to the vice chancellor saying that he would be submitting the certified photocopies of the answers scripts if asked by the university.”
The university is now considering various options to rescue the answer scripts. Since Mondol’s holding on to the scripts is not a cognisable offence, the university would find it tough to get him arrested. Insiders also feel that it would be pointless to issue a search warrant. “We will now have to weigh the pros and cons before taking the next step. We are currently consulting legal experts to decide on our next course of action,” said Rajat Bandhyopadhyay, registrar of the university.
The Fact Finding Committee will submit its report in a day’s time and the VC has asked for a couple of days to decide on the next course of action. The students on the other hand are not very happy with the way the university has handled the incident and delayed the investigation process. They have informed the VC that they are considering reporting the matter to the chancellor.
“We are considering to go the chancellor very soon and submit in writing what is going on in the university and how the careers of the students are at stake. If required we would want to meet him in person and ask him to intervene and solve the matter,” said one of the students of the department on conditions of anonymity.
The students are also unhappy with the way Mandal has been dropping names of various female students in the media, accusing them of writing obscene messages in the answer scripts. “We are appalled by the way he has been targeting individual students in the media. We have urged the VC to ask him to desist from such activities. Moreover, unless what he says is proved he cannot accuse students in public,” said another student.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com