Withdrawal of suspension of 3 Presidency students sought

The Presidency University students union Thursday demanded withdrawal of the suspension on three students and warned of agitation if steps were not taken in this regard at the earliest.

A resolution, passed after a general body meeting of SFI and Independent Consolidation at the university campus in College Street Thursday, the union further demanded the letter of warning, issued against 18 other students, be withdrawn forthwith and "all kinds of punitive measures by the varsity" be stopped.

On December 19, the university had suspended the three students for six months and issued letters of warning against 18 others after an inquiry committee found them guilty of locking the gate of the varsity and preventing the Vice Chancellor, Registrar and other professors from entering the premises on September 10, when agitation over the handover of Hindu Hostel was going on.

 

"VC Anuradha Lohia had used her discretionary power to reduce the suspension period of the three students from one year to six months considering their career prospects though the enquiry committee had recommended one year suspension for three students and six months suspension for another 18. These 18 students who were allowed by VC to go with a warning that we will be stricter against such conduct in future," a senior official of the university had stated at that time.

Terming the report of the committee as fictitious and one-sided, the student union said in the resolution, "in what logic 21 students were singled out among the 500 agitating students and how three of them were marked as main troublemakers was not clear".

Sayan Chakraborty, a students' union leader, said if the steps were not withdrawn immediately the students will go for democratic protests without disrupting the academic atmosphere of the varsity in coming days.

He claimed irrespective of party affiliations, all the students opposed the decision of the varsity authorities.

Registrar Debojyoti Konar said, "I was not present in the campus during the time (when this meeting) today. I can't comment now."

VC Anuradha Lohia was also not available for comment.

Since November 28, boarders were allocated rooms in the Hindu Hostel, the over 130-year-old accommodation, after completion of renovation in two blocks.