ABVP-linked students ‘purify’ Kolkata Law College room after Muslim VP resigns

ABVP-linked students at Kolkata’s Surendranath Law College reportedly used Ganga water and incense sticks to “purify” the room of Vice Principal Dr Mohammadi Tarannum after a 23-hour protest ended with her resignation on Friday.

The students described the act as an attempt to remove what they alleged was the influence of the previous Trinamool Congress government from the college.

The protest, led by students associated with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), involved heated exchanges with Tarannum. She alleged that the protesting students had confined her to her room during the gherao and switched off the lights and fan. She also claimed that she was denied basic necessities such as food and water, Maktoob Media reported.

Tarannum told reporters that she had been forced to resign and described herself as the victim of a conspiracy. Although her resignation letter cited unavoidable family, health-related and personal reasons, she maintained that the decision was made under pressure from the protesting students.

She alleged that certain people opposed to her efforts to enforce discipline among students were determined to have her removed. She also appealed to the Higher Education Minister to intervene and said she had always supported transparency in the examination system.

Rejecting allegations of links with the TMC, Tarannum said she may have been associated with Left politics in the past but had never worked in anyone’s personal or political interest.

She said she had brought the matter to the attention of the Governing Council chairman and Higher Education Minister-in-charge Kaustav Bagchi, the Higher Education Department and Calcutta University, seeking their intervention to resolve the situation. However, she alleged that no one came forward to address the issue.

Tarannum was escorted out of the campus under police protection, while a group of students surrounded her vehicle and raised slogans. She repeatedly maintained that she had not resigned voluntarily as she was being taken away from the college.

The dispute began after the college issued a notice stating that students would be required to have at least 75% attendance to appear for semester examinations.

The protesting students claimed that BJP MLA and lawyer Kaustav Bagchi intervened and suggested that those with attendance below 75% could be permitted to sit for the examinations after submitting self-declarations.

However, the attendance requirement remained a point of contention during the form-filling process. According to the students, it was eventually decided that students would need a minimum of 40% attendance to appear for the examinations.

The protesters claimed that enforcing the original 75% requirement could have prevented around 600 of the college’s nearly 900 students from taking the examinations. They also alleged that in one semester, 144 out of 180 students had attendance below 40%.

Bagchi, meanwhile, accused Tarannum of creating what he described as an “anti-student mechanism”, while maintaining that the 75% attendance requirement was reasonable. He alleged that students had been subjected to pressure for raising various concerns and questioned why the college authorities had not engaged with them through an open and fear-free dialogue.

College authorities and students met Bagchi on Thursday, following which it was decided that students would be allowed to sit for the examinations based on self-declarations. However, the decision failed to bring the protests to an end, with demonstrations continuing on the campus.

The ABVP termed Tarannum’s resignation a victory for student rights and accused her of acting as a TMC representative.