Social scientist Partha Chatterjee, who had studied at the Plus-II level at St Xavier’s Collegiate School, said it was “absolutely unthinkable” that a teacher of St Xavier’s University could lose her job because of something she did in her private domain.
He said: “It is absolutely unthinkable. This (uploading pictures on Instagram) absolutely involves the private domain of a teacher.
“The guardian of a student is lodging a complaint about this and, as a consequence, a teacher is losing her job. It is absolutely unthinkable. I am surprised that colleges and universities still deal with students as though they are minors. I hope they are adult enough to exercise their franchise.
“I often wonder how even college and university students need guardians and how the authorities feel the need to interact with them directly over such issues. The need for having a guardian could still be explained had they been school students.”
Jadavpur University emeritus professor Supriya Chaudhuri said the allegation that St Xavier’s University forced a teacher to quit because of what she wore in private reflected a “misogynistic” mindset.
She said: “I consider this the worst form of sexual harassment and illegal intrusion into the privacy of a woman. “The attitude of the university authorities is misogynistic, patriarchal and constitutes an illegal intrusion into the private space of a teacher.
“Instead of looking into her grievance, as to how her photos were procured, they put pressure on her to resign. How could they circulate her photos among themselves during a meeting? (The teacher has alleged that during a meeting on October 7, 2021, her photos in a bathing suit taken at her home had been printed in thumbnail format and circulated around the room).”
