A postgraduate student of Jadavpur University has told the dean of students in a written complaint that he was verbally abused by senior students and was not feeling “safe” anymore in the university’s main hostel.
The student has appealed for accommodation on the campus. The main hostel is about 440 metres from the campus and is adjacent to Jadavpur police station.
The complaint comes three months and a few weeks after a first-year undergraduate student who used to stay at the main hostel fell to his death from the B-block amid complaints of ragging by seniors.
The student who has written to the dean is a resident of another block.
In his letter, the student alleged that he was held responsible for the poor quality of meals in the hostel.
“They (the senior students) verbally abused me for this. This triggered a trauma. Then they called a general body meeting to remove me (from a post). They also threatened me that I would be taught a lesson because of my attitude,” the student wrote.
“Under these circumstances, I am not feeling safe about staying in the main hostel. It is not possible for me to continue my studies while staying outside the hostel (renting PG accommodation).”
The student wrote: “Therefore it is my earnest request that I be taken away from the main hostel and accommodated in a hostel inside the campus.”
On August 10, when the first-year undergraduate student died after he was allegedly ragged at the main hostel, the Jadavpur University authorities decided to shift all undergraduate first-year students who had been allotted rooms in the main hostel to the New Boys’ Hostel located on the university campus.
“We have asked the anti-ragging squad of the university to probe the complaint. Let the squad submit its report,” JU officiating vice-chancellor Buddhadeb Sau said.
Told about the complaint, education minister Bratya Basu said: “We had sent a fact-finding team to the university after what happened in August. But at this moment the department is in a tussle with the chancellor. We don’t intervene in these cases. If the administrative setup changes in the university, those who would assume charge in that scenario, if they seek, we will offer suggestions.”
Governor C.V. Ananda Bose is the chancellor of all state-aided universities and he handpicked Sau as the officiating VC without consulting the higher education department.
The latest ragging complaint has come at a time the university stands accused of taking no action against those who have been found guilty of ragging the student who died in August.
A teacher at Jadavpur University last Thursday staged a day’s hunger strike on the campus to protest the university’s alleged failure to punish the students found guilty in the internal probe.
Iman Kalyan Lahiri, a professor in the international relations department, sat on a hunger strike in a corridor on the ground floor of Aurobindo Bhavan, the administrative headquarters of JU.
JU teachers early last week wrote to their officiating vice-chancellor about their concerns over the “inordinate delay” in punishing the students found guilty.
Parthapratim Ray, the general secretary of the association, said: “Complaints of ragging have recurred because the university authorities could not take action against those who were found guilty in the probe into the previous complaint.”
