Atrocities on students need to stop, says CM

kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday accused the Visva Bharati University (VBU) administrators of bulldozing students, professors, employees for saffronisation by force.

“I don’t want to interfere with the day-to-day running of this varsity, but if anyone thinks that they will bulldoze students, professors, employees for saffronisation by force, then I will stay with the students, even if no one is with them,” Banerjee said in a veiled attack upon the VBU Vice-Chancellor Bidyut Chakrabarty after speaking with students and teachers of VBU and interacting with some families.

She said that all with whom she spoke had the same complaint, of a boundary wall being erected in front of their houses .

Speaking to reporters soon after her meeting, Banerjee said that the administrators in VBU are devoid of emotion and branded them as heartless. “If the varsity administration had emotional capability, then the students would not have been harassed to such an extent. Visva-Bharati administration is busy suspending students left, right and centre. Some of the students are facing marks reduction by varsity authorities. Teachers, on the other hand, are being terminated from their jobs,”she maintained.

Claiming that Visva-Bharati is a place of international recognition, she said that she felt disheartened after hearing the kind of treatment that was being meted out to the students and staff of this university. “The state government will be in touch with the students, teachers, and officials of Visva Bharati. We will decide the future course of action after deliberation and discussion. I personally want the students to study hard and excel here, that they get opportunities and don’t face discrimination,” Banerjee said.

She added that she came across a student who wasn’t being allowed to complete his PhD programme, a teacher whose appointment was terminated. Seven students met Banerjee and claimed that they had been suspended by the varsity officials.

“Absurd rules are being made by Visva-Bharati administration about students’ attendance. These various atrocities that the student community is facing here, needs to be stopped immediately. We are extremely sorry, but we’ve never seen such happenings in Visva-Bharati before,” she regretted. Reiterating that it is the duty of all students, teachers and everyone associated with the university to save Visva-Bharati, she said that it is everyone’s duty to make sure that the university excels, and lives up to the ideals that Rabindranath Tagore had envisioned.