Academia condemn caste-based slur on prof

Kolkata: Academicians, teachers and students have condemned those who have attacked Maroona Murmu, a professor of Jadavpur University with abusive caste-laced slur for objecting to the University Grant's Commissions (UGC) decision to hold final year and terminal semester examinations amid COVID-19 pandemic.

Murmu is an assistant professor in the History department of Jadavpur University for more than a decade.

Condemning the attack on Murmu, Sanskrit scholar and academician Nrisingha Prasad Bhaduri, said: "The BJP is brining the caste-based politics in Bengal to poison the minds of the people coming from all walks of life including the students' community. It is not the culture of Bengal. Sri Chaitanya, Raja Rammohan Roy, Sri Ramakrishna, Vidyasagar, Rabindranath, Swami Vivekananda and Nazrul have woven the cultural fabric of Bengal where human beings have been given the highest position. Such an attack by a student is uncalled for. The people of Bengal will thwart the nasty move of the BJP to divide society based on caste and religion."

Jadavpur University Teachers' Association (JUTA) has issued a statement on Sunday unequivocally condemning the incident.

The statement read: "JUTA believes that the overwhelming majority of people in India and West Bengal are not as devoted as those who have attacked Professor Murmu and calls upon all right-thinking individuals to act proactively to ensure that such appalling and untoward incidents do not recur in future." It has assured Murmu of any support that she may require at this time of personal turmoil and stress.

On September 2, Murmu had objected to the UGC's decision to hold the final year and terminal semester examinations and uploaded her comment in the social media regarding the matter.

Paromita Ghosh, a student of Bethune College reacted sharply and made abusive and casteist remarks and said: "It is surprising that the JU has professor like Maroona Murmu. I am surprised by her mentality and stand taken against holding the examination. I would like to explain to her the difference between the quota and non-quota."

She further wrote: "To know that life is more important than an academic year, one doesn't require being a professor. It's not about lagging one year but about how some unqualified and incompetent people take undue advantage of the reservation system and their caste is now helping them be successful, while those deserving lags behind."

Sumita Mukherjee, head of department Bengali, Bethune College, has condemned Ghosh's statement in the strongest words. In social media, she wrote: "Her behaviour has earned a bad name for the century-old Bethune College and its Bengali department."

Chiranjib Bhattacharya, pro-vice-chancellor, JU called the incident "most unfortunate" and said: "The university is keeping a tab on the situation and will try to find out how the incident had taken place."