Jadavpur University teachers have written to their officiating vice-chancellor about their concerns over the “inordinate delay” in punishing the students found guilty in an internal inquiry of ragging a first-year student who died.
The teachers have written: “Inordinate delay in imposing punishment has raised serious concerns on the role and interest of the administration to curb ragging in the university.”
The teachers have said disciplinary action has not yet been taken even after a “series of meetings of the anti-ragging committee and an anti-ragging squad of the university”.
They have warned of launching an agitation against what they called “motivated inaction by a section of the administration to curb ragging”.
November 10 marked three months of the death of the first-year student, but Jadavpur University has yet to take any action against those the university found responsible for the ragging and the subsequent death.
The student was allegedly thrown off a second-floor balcony of the JU Main Hostel on the night of August 9. He died at a private hospital early next morning.
Soon after, the university set up an internal committee to probe the death.
The report of the committee says the student “was singled out for ragging” on the night of August 9 and the ragging was “carried out in a systematic planned manner” at the main hostel. The panel has recommended various degrees of punishment for those it held guilty.
The letter from the protesting teachers — signed by Parthapratim Roy, general secretary of the teachers’ association — says: “JUTA (Jadavpur University Teachers’ Association) notes with deep concern that the disciplinary action against the convicted persons in the death of a first-year student has not yet been taken in spite of series of meetings....”
The letter, which was emailed to the officiating VC on Tuesday, says: “In this context, JUTA demands immediate punishment of identified guilty persons using the institutional rules and regulations, failing which serious legal measures will be initiated against the administration to ensure social justice. Moreover, JUTA will mobilise the stakeholders to launch agitation against the motivated inaction by a section of administration to curb ragging.”
Ray said three-and-a-half months have passed since the death of the undergraduate student, but the university has not been able to punish the guilty.
“The anti-ragging committee in its meeting on September 15 accepted in principle the report of the internal committee. But there has not been any progress since,” he told The Telegraph.
“In the name of sorting out some inconsistencies, the report is moving back and forth between the anti-ragging committee and the anti-ragging squad. The university is dragging its feet. We must remember that ‘justice delayed is justice denied’.”
Asked about the delay, officiating VC Buddhadeb Sau said: “One of the inconsistencies was that instead of asking the anti-ragging squad to probe the death, an internal committee was given the responsibility. The UGC has authorised the squad to conduct such an investigation. Besides, at the last meeting of the anti-ragging committee, held in early November, I had told a representative of the police in attendance that the university be allowed to go through the deposition of the 12 students who are behind bars. The deposition will help us identify the actual offenders. The police have declined our plea and we have planned to move the high court.”
Sau was appointed officiating VC on August 20, 10 days after the internal committee was constituted.