JU hijab row: Fact-finding panel seeks removal of English HoD during probe

Kolkata: A fact-finding committee probing the hijab-related controversy at Jadavpur University has recommended that the head of the English department be relieved of her post while the inquiry is underway, sources said.

The recommendation was forwarded to vice-chancellor Chiranjib Bhattacharya after the committee’s first meeting on Monday.

However, committee member Padmasree Kazi Masum Akhtar, the Governor’s nominee on the university’s Executive Council, opposed the move and submitted a formal note of dissent.

The committee is scheduled to meet again on January 19 to hear faculty members, research scholars and students.

The five-member panel, chaired by Syed Tanveer Nasreen of the University of Burdwan, was constituted following allegations that during fifth-semester examinations on December 22, two third-year students were asked to remove their hijabs on suspicion of using unfair means.

Students alleged that the head of the English department, Saswati Halder, asked one examinee to remove her hijab and, upon her refusal, took her to a departmental room where she was compelled to do so. A similar allegation was reported from another examination hall.

Bhattacharya said the report had been received and would be examined.

“We have received the report. Everything will be reviewed and an appropriate decision will be taken,” he said.

According to sources, Halder stated in her written submission to the authorities that the checks were conducted to prevent copying and that all students were subjected to scrutiny, not only those wearing hijab.

She said she had apologised to the two students and added that incriminating material related to unfair means was recovered from two other students who were not wearing hijab.

Sources said Halder told the committee that she bore no communal bias and argued that removing her from the post before completion of the inquiry would amount to punishment without a finding of guilt.

Akhtar, who dissented, said the checks were within examination norms and not driven by any communal intent.

He said Halder had reported several students from other communities for suspected unfair means in her role as head of department and invigilator. “Checking whether students had headphones or Bluetooth devices in their ears is not abnormal.

When nothing was found, she apologised repeatedly,” he said, adding that recommending her removal before completion of the inquiry was humiliating and amounted to punishment without a finding of guilt.