A day after Jadavpur University authorities announced cancellation of the special convocation, West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Sunday shot off a letter to the varsity vice-chancellor asking him to ignore the "illegal" resolution.
Left student unions, AFSU and SFI, termed the governor's move an "unwarranted interference into the autonomy of the institute" and threatened strong protest if he "does anything by force".
Dhankar, who is the chancellor of state universities, held the Executive Council resolution on December 21 to defer the convocation programme of December 24 "illegal and invalid" and said, "A question has arisen as to whether the Executive Council has acted in accordance with the powers conferred on it."
Referring to a letter from the vice-chancellor on December 21 informing about the decision to put the convocation on hold, he said, "In your communication you have referred to me as chancellor of Jadavpur University following resolution taken by the Executive Council in its meeting of December 21."
Observing that the Executive Council had outrageously overstepped its jurisdictional competence in being judgmental about the decision, the governor said, "Compliance of this be forthwith communicated."
The Students Federation of India and Arts Faculty Students Union in a joint statement said, "The students of JU will not tolerate the unwarranted interference of the governor in the functional autonomy of JU."
Threatening to hold a "strong demonstration" if the governor wants to do "anything forcefully," the unions said, "Unlike any protest of the BJP, our movement will be democratic and peaceful."