Students stage a dharna outside the Jadavpur University administrative building on Thursday. (Express photo by Subham Dutta)
The indefinite fast by students of Jadavpur University (JU), protesting the varsity’s decision to scrap admission tests for undergraduate courses, continued for the third day Sunday even as education minister Partha Chatterjee met Governor K N Tripathi to find a solution to the impasse.
Governor House sources said Chatterjee visited Tripathi Sunday afternoon and held a long discussion with him over the issue. Though Chatterjee did not speak to the media about what transpired in the meeting, sources said it could lead to a solution to the crisis at JU. Sources also said that Chatterjee went to meet Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at her residence after leaving Raj Bhavan.
Protest erupted on the varsity campus last week after the executive council (EC) of Jadavpur University decided to scrap admission tests for six Humanities subjects and announced it would admit undergraduate students in English, Comparative Literature, Bengali, History, Political Science and Philosophy only on the basis of marks. The protesters have accused the authorities of toeing the state government’s line after state education minister Partha Chatterjee also spoke in favour of admitting students based on marks in board exams.
“We will continue with our hunger strike as the authorities have not accepted our demand yet. On Monday, we will boycott classes and hold a convention on the campus. Our protest will continue unless our demand is met,” Arts Faculty Students Union (AFSU) chairperson Somashree Choudhury told The Indian Express.
Vice-chancellor Suranjan Das on Sunday appealed to the students to withdraw their hunger strike and sought more time to convene the meeting. The students did not respond to his appeal.
“We have sent a report to the Governor apprising him of the demands of the students and the protest. We are waiting for his advice. We will call an emergency EC meeting as soon as we hear from him,” said JU registrar Chiranjib Bhattacharjee.
Meanwhile, Jadavpur University Teachers Association (JUTA) expressed concern over the health of the 20 students who have been on indefinite fast.
“JUTA is extremely worried and concerned about the health of the students who have been on hunger strike since Friday night. It fully supports their demand. JUTA has sought an appointment with the Governor to discuss the present impasse, but has, so far, not received any response from his office,” read a statement issued by JUTA assistant secretary Partha Pratim Ray.
“JUTA appeals to the JU administration and the Chancellor to take immediate measures so that normalcy may be restored and the health of the students on hunger strike does not deteriorate any further,” it further read.
In a related development, the International Relations department has also decided not to take part in the admission process to protest against the authorities’ decision to scrap admission tests.
Faculty of History and Philosophy departments will hold a meeting on Monday to decide on the same.
With PTI inputs