Documents : Why did students write on blank answer- scripts "Save BESU from becoming a Nandigram"?
I/IV
Dear Friends,
Why did students write on blank answer- scripts “Save BESU from becoming a Nandigram”?
The students of Sibpur BESU are facing an assault of the college administration-local goons-police. The Vice-chancellor Nikhil Ranjan Banerjea is orchestrating the assault, the aim of which is to terrorize students into joining or supporting the students’ wing of the major ruling party. It is not an accident that all those who are being arrested by the police are distinguished by their non-allegiance to this students’ organisation. The enthusiasm of the police is, no doubt, linked to the fact that the son of Mohd. Selim, of the CPI(M), is a student of BESU at present (not admitted through the Joint Entrance Examinations, as reported).
The evil nexus has cleverly used the incident of a brawl under the effect of drink to go into the assault mode against the students, while
(1) masking the real scenario, pretending that the question is one of discipline, and
(2) beating up non-SFI students mercilessly in the name of enforcing order.
The campus has been cut off and the media are not admitted in. So, March 20-24, during which the students were continuously assaulted by goons and the police, who even entered the girls’ hostel, and the authorities kept up a relentless pressure to join the SFI, little news of the magnitude of the atrocities and the flagrant political thrust of the BESU administration reached the media.
Taken aback at first, the students of BESU have rallied back to protest against the atrocities, returning blank sheets in the examinations which commenced on March 24, and participating in a sit-in at Metro channel of Esplanade.
A fact-sheet prepared by the students is given below. Also attached are letters written by the students to the VC and the Registrar, as well as a copy of a mass petition against one Afaz-Uddin Ahmed.
Please circulate widely.
Dipanjan Rai Chaudhuri
FACTSHEET
In chronological order:
07.09.2007:
A notice ( memo no. RDO-2/1387) had been issued by the registrar where it was notified that four final year students (UG) and six 3rd year students (UG) were suspended and instructed to vacate their respective hostels with immediate effect for an indefinite period of time. But in the aforementioned notice, lots of irregularities have been found, which are mentioned below:
· It is clearly mentioned in the notice that inquiries against the students alleged to have committed misdemeanors, were pending. Then, we would like to know, how, without proper inquiry, were the 10 students slapped with such harsh punishment?
· We have found that one of the accused students viz. Tanmoy Chatterjee (3rd yr. Metallurgy) was not present in the university campus on the date on which alleged incident took place. He had in fact, gone to visit his friend’s ailing mother, at
So it is explicit that the accused 10 students had been wrongly framed and suspended on the basis of some fabricated allegations. We are amazed and upset at this sort of bias on the part of the authority.
12.12. 2007:
“ A second year student (U.G) named Afaz-Uddin Ahmed of the Dept. of Information Technology is fomenting trouble & violence in the University campus for the last one year. He, with the help of some of his batch mates is explicitly trying to disturb the peace & harmony of the University campus by infusing dirty politics in the affairs related to the students & inciting violence in the University campus, thus denting the integrity among the students. It had been reported to the concerned authority that he was found to behave in the most unacceptable manner and even has the audacity to manhandle some of his seniors. Presently he has taken his grudge to such an extent that he is threatening his own batch mates of dire consequences if they do not pay their “allegiance” to him. Now he has become so desperate that he is even trying to scare them by threatening that he will take “revenge” by waging his animosity against their families. It has been heard that a guardian of his batch mate has received threatening calls from an anonymous phone number, which is unprecedented in the history of this 150 year old institution. There is no denying the fact that his activities are unbecoming of a student of such a reputed institution.
We had lodged several complaints against him to the concerned authority, but unfortunately all have gone unheeded. If he is testing our patience, we would like to make it clear that we will no longer remain as silent victims of his inhuman acts. It is unfortunate to inform you that his motive of gaining narrow political mileage is explicitly getting the patronage of some of the office bearers of BESU, as found in yesterday night’s incident at hostel 9.But unfortunately the University authority is trying to overlook his heinous activities because of his outside political support. “ (From a mass petition by the students)
When we drew the attention of our faculty members to this matter and submitted a mass petition to the Dean of Students (PICSA) on 12.12.2007, the authority came under pressure to act and constituted a disciplinary committee. But on the very day (13th December, 2007), Students’ Federation of India staged a rally and intentionally fomented panic among the students. And the result was imposition of section 144 in the campus, a black day for us. The “Afaaz” issue, thus, died down.
19.3.2008:
Three 2nd year students returning to their hostels at around 10 p.m. were ragged and racially abused by few boarders of “Wolfenden Hall”, as they were natives from outside
20.3.2008:
In the evening, party cadres brutally assaulted few students at the first gate of the university in front of R.A.F. SFI supporters helped them by pointing out the targets. When the students appealed to the R.A.F to take action, they resorted to indiscriminate “lathicharge” on the students. They even entered Richardson Hall without the permission of the hostel superintendent and assaulted the boarders, including a physically handicapped student. More than twenty students were seriously injured. The same act was repeated in Sengupta as well as Sen Halls. The dual policy adopted by the R.A.F. was apparent from the ease with which cadres were roaming freely and threatening us in the presence of R.A.F. In the mean time SFI supporters attacked 2nd year hostels. The 2nd year students were so terrified that they sought our help. We took them to our hostels, called our University doctors and provided them with First Aid. Strangely, the authority’s idea of assistance was an order to vacate the hostels near midnight. Buses were provided to transport us to the
You can surely understand that we, the students have become victims of SFI-Authority-Police nexus whose sole motive is to de-stabilize our esteemed Institution. Our very existence in the University campus is at stake. We would like to vehemently protest against the barbaric treatment given to the ordinary students.
24.03.2008:
Students were put under virtual house arrest, and their free movement was restricted by the police. They even threatened students of dire consequences, which included threatening them with initiation of legal proceedings and disrupting their careers, for no valid reason.
The press was not allowed to enter the campus and report the incidents occurring inside. Even the students were not allowed to go near the press and express their views. This constitutes a gross violation of human rights.
We would like to appeal to you to bring this to the attention of the nation at large and help us to bring the offenders to justice.
Withwarm regards,
Students (U.G)
BESU, Shibpur
Date: 24.03.2008
II/IV
To
The Registrar,
BESU, Shibpur,
Sir,
The UG students have decided to initiate a movement in protest of the atrocious and barbaric events that have taken place over the last few days. The events were shocking as well as horrifying, and have given birth to a lot of doubt about whether the authority sincerely thinks of the well-being of the students on campus. The movement starts off with the following demands and the movement will be further intensified if the response of the authority is found to be unsatisfactory. The demands have been enlisted below:
· Strong disciplinary action against the main culprits of the Wednesday night brawl, namely Parichoy Patra (4th year ETC) and Dilip Roy (4th year Electrical) who were caught red handed with hockey sticks by faculty members.
· Immediate stepping down of Prof. Bhabani Prasad Mukhopadhyaya from the Disciplinary Committee and other posts concerning students in the campus because of the several allegations and complaints brought against him in the past few months on account of his highly biased actions, which were proved yet again on Wednesday night when he set the above mentioned culprits free.
· Re-opening of the case against Afaz-uddin Ahmed (2nd year IT) against whom a mass petition was already submitted on 12.12.2007 to the concerned authority, but to no avail.
· Explanation for the unprovoked brutal ‘lathicharge’ on the students by the police as well as the R.A.F, who even chased the terrified students into the hostels, dragging the boarders out of their rooms at Richardson Hall and beating them up ruthlessly, not even sparing the physically challenged students. It is worth mentioning that the super-in-tendent of Richardson Hall did not give permission to the police and R.A.F to enter the hostel.
· Enquiry into the involvement of outsiders in Thursday evening’s assault on the students at first gate of the university, which left about 20 students seriously injured, many sustaining head injuries.
· Explanation of the grounds on which the 50 students, including physically challenged ones and those who were seriously injured, were arrested from the campus late on Thursday night.
· Justification of the order for Hostel evacuation at midnight leaving hundreds of students at the mercy of outsiders, even though the authority was well aware of the assault on the students outside the campus few hours ago.
It is unfortunate to say that our repeated attempts to bring these matters to the authority’s notice have failed and our pleas went unheeded. The reputation and prestige of this great Institution are at stake. Now that our University is at the threshold of receiving national recognition (INI), such campus unrest is totally unwarranted and necessary steps must be taken by the concerned authority to avoid repetition of campus violence.
We, the U.G students of BESU are looking forward to a comprehensive and affirmative response from you. We are ready to wait for 24 hours, i.e. till
With warm regards,
Students, U.G
BESU, Shibpur
Copy to:
· The Vice-Chancellor
· The Dean of Students (PICSA)
· The Dean (FEAT)
· All HODs
· The General Secretary, BESUTA
Date: 24.03.2008
III/IV
To
The Vice-Chancellor,
BESU, Shibpur,
Howrah-711103.
Sir,
We, the boarders of Richardson Hall, want to report to you a very atrocious and barbaric event that took place on Thursday night. The event was shocking and left all of us terrified. Following the assault which took place at the first gate of the university, the students fled to their respective hostels and halls. What was more horrifying about the assault was that the police and R.A.F, who were posted on the university campus for our security, chased the hapless students. As if that was not enough, they followed the students into their respective halls. We were astounded to see the police enter our hall and drag the students out of their rooms and beat them up ruthlessly.
We demand a proper explanation for the unruly behavior of the police and we want to know under whose authorization they were given the right to enter the hostel.
With warm regards
Boarders of Richardson Hall
IV/IV
To
The Professor in-charge of Students‘ Activities,
Sir,
We would like to bring to your serious attention that a second year student (U.G) named Afaz-Uddin Ahmed of the Dept. of Information Technology is fomenting trouble & violence in the University campus for the last one year. He, with the help of some of his batch mates is explicitly trying to disturb the peace & harmony of the University campus by infusing dirty politics in the affairs related to the students & inciting violence in the University campus, thus denting the integrity among the students. It had been reported to the concerned authority that he was found to behave in the most unacceptable manner with his seniors and even has the audacity to manhandle some of his seniors. Presently he has taken his grudge to such an extent that he is threatening his own batch mates of dire consequences if they do not pay their “allegiance” to him. Now he has become so desperate that he is even trying to scare them by threatening that he will take “revenge” by waging his animosity against their families. It has been heard that a guardian of his batch mate has received threatening calls from an anonymous phone number, which is unprecedented in the history of this 150 year old institution. There is no denying the fact that his activities are unbecoming of a student of such a reputed institution. We had lodged several complaints against him to the concerned authority, but unfortunately all have gone unheeded. If he is testing our patience, we would like to make it clear that we will no longer remain as silent victims of his inhuman acts. It is unfortunate to inform you that his motive of gaining narrow political mileage is explicitly getting the patronage of some of the office bearers of BESU, as found in yesterday night’s incident at hostel 9.
We, the students of BESU earnestly appeal to you that our grievances should be addressed properly & stern action must be taken against him at the earliest. This is a plea to the “Guardians of BESU”. We are looking forward to a comprehensive & affirmative response from you.
Thanking you,
Yours sincerely,
Students (U.G)
BESU, Shibpur
Amitadyuti Kumar
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