Nagpur: Colleagues and friends from the teaching community have come out in support of Shoma Sen and termed actions against her as baseless, unfair and unfortunate. Sen, an associate professor at the Nagpur University, has been suspended after her arrest by the Pune police for her role in the Koregaon Bhima violence late last year.
All termed Sen an activist who could never indulge in unlawful activities but only raise a dissenting voice. They also say that Sen has been a wonderful teacher for nearly 30 years and never instigated any of her students to join the Naxal movement as is being alleged.
NU officials too expressed surprise over the action by Pune police who had arrested the 59-year-old professor, and four others, from her Amravati Road residence on June 6 for alleged Maoist links. Currently, she has been remanded in police custody till June 21. A top officer said there was not a single complaint against her in the last 30 years.
Following her police custody beyond 48 hours, the NU decided to suspend her and issued the order on June 15.
“We are appalled and outraged by the arrest of Sen, one of our most distinguished and popular teachers in English. She is a also a scholar of national repute in the domains of culture studies and critical theory. The very fact that the authorities have not been able to affix any concrete charges against her even almost two weeks after her arrest, amply demonstrates that she has been booked merely for her dissenting ideology rather than any tangible offence. We strongly condemn this oppressive act and demand her immediate release,” said associate professor Supantha Bhattacharya.
Another professor John Menacherry said, “Shoma has been activist from Day 1. She never hid it. She is well-known for championing the cause of Dalits and marginalized even before joining the university. It’s too far-fetched to label her as Maoist.”
Bhattacharya added that they knew that the NU must follow its own rules, but also wonder if the step of suspending her could not have been deferred considering the absence of any specific allegations or conclusive evidence against her as of now.
Associate professor Karthik Panikkar too said that the NU should have waited for police to come up with concrete evidence against her. “It’s difficult to belief that she could harm anyone or plot somebody’s assassination,” he said.
Well-known English professor Shernavaz Buhariwala, who has known Sen for 30 years, said she is incapable of non-violence. “I pray the charges are revoked. Sen is a wonderful person, sincere and noble,” she said.
Shubha Mishra, who has been known Sen for 35 years since their PWD College days, said it is unfair to brand her a Maoist. Another English professor Ajiet Jachack said he was shocked to learn about the arrest.
Amol Padwad, professor at Delhi’s Ambedkar University and Sen’s friend for 30 years, said, “Shoma is a present voice of dissent. The arrest is not proper way of reacting to dissenting voices. Legal provisions slapped against her not apt.”