Chairperson of West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education (WBCHSE), Mahua Das, has been removed from her post weeks after she was criticised for flagging the religious identity of the Class 12 topper. WBCHSE was already in controversy following the announcement of Class 12 board results. This year the board results were announced after an alternative evaluation as exams could not be held due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Students, who were not promoted or given less marks, had taken to streets in protest against the state government. The WBCHSE later issued revised results in which, it said, 90 percent of failed students were promoted.
Jadavpur University pro-vice chancellor Chiranjib Bhattacharjee has been made the new Chairperson of WBCHSE. He will take over charge from Monday.
Das had come under fire after she highlighted the religious identity of a Muslim girl from Murshidabad who topped the Class 12 results by getting 499 marks out of 500. The Opposition parties including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress criticised her for it.
“In Mamata Banerjee’s Bengal, appeasement politics hit a new low, when a board official reduced [the] academic achievement of a class 12th girl student to her religious identity… She repeatedly mentioned that the girl is a Muslim!,” Amit Malvaiya, head of BJP IT cell tweeted while accusing the state government of promoting appeasement politics.
Congress’ Adhir Chowdhury, who is party’s leader in Lok Sabha, said in the house that it is praiseworthy that a girl student has left behind boys by securing the first rank, but he would have been happier if there was no attempt to flag her religious identity, reported Hindustan Times.
According to the HT report of July 22, West Bengal Imams’ Association president Md Yahiya also panned Das for “humiliating” the student and “belittling” her achievements. Yahiya had demanded Das’ resignation for her “despicable mindset”.
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