Administrative Crackdown on BESU Students

Bengal Engineering And Science University (BESU), Shibpur, Howrah-711 103

FACTSHEET in chronological order:

07.09.2007:
A notice ( memo no. RDO-2/1387) had been issued by the registrar where it was notified that four final year students (UG) and six 3rd year students (UG) were suspended and instructed to vacate their respective hostels with immediate effect for an indefinite period of time. But in the aforementioned notice, lots of irregularities have been found, which are mentioned below:

· It is clearly mentioned in the notice that inquiries against the students alleged to have committed misdemeanors, were pending. Then, we would like to know, how, without proper inquiry, were the 10 students slapped with such harsh punishment?

· We have found that one of the accused students viz. Tanmoy Chatterjee (3rd yr. Metallurgy) was not present in the university campus on the date on which alleged incident took place. He had in fact, gone to visit his friend’s ailing mother, at Peerless Hospital. Then how did his name crop up in the notice?

So it is explicit that the accused 10 students had been wrongly framed and suspended on the basis of some fabricated allegations. We are amazed and upset at this sort of bias on the part of the authority.

12.12. 2007:
" A second year student (U.G) named Afaz-Uddin Ahmed of the Dept. of Information Technology is fomenting trouble & violence in the University campus for the last one year. He, with the help of some of his batch mates is explicitly trying to disturb the peace & harmony of the University campus by infusing dirty politics in the affairs related to the students & inciting violence in the University campus, thus denting the integrity among the students. It had been reported to the concerned authority that he was found to behave in the most unacceptable manner and even has the audacity to manhandle some of his seniors. Presently he has taken his grudge to such an extent that he is threatening his own batch mates of dire consequences if they do not pay their “allegiance” to him. Now he has become so desperate that he is even trying to scare them by threatening that he will take “revenge” by waging his animosity against their families. It has been heard that a guardian of his batch mate has received threatening calls from an anonymous phone number, which is unprecedented in the history of this 150 year old institution. There is no denying the fact that his activities are unbecoming of a student of such a reputed institution.

We had lodged several complaints against him to the concerned authority, but unfortunately all have gone unheeded. If he is testing our patience, we would like to make it clear that we will no longer remain as silent victims of his inhuman acts. It is unfortunate to inform you that his motive of gaining narrow political mileage is explicitly getting the patronage of some of the office bearers of BESU, as found in yesterday night’s incident at hostel 9.But unfortunately the University authority is trying to overlook his heinous activities because of his outside political support. " (From a mass petition by the students)
When we drew the attention of our faculty members to this matter and submitted a mass petition to the Dean of Students (PICSA) on 12.12.2007, the authority came under pressure to act and constituted a disciplinary committee. But on the very day (13th December, 2007), Students’ Federation of India staged a rally and intentionally fomented panic among the students. And the result was imposition of section 144 in the campus, a black day for us. The “Afaaz” issue, thus, died down.

19.3.2008:
Three 2nd year students returning to their hostels at around 10 p.m. were ragged and racially abused by few boarders of “Wolfenden Hall”, as they were natives from outside West Bengal. They were physically assaulted and two 2nd year students sustained head injuries. Police forces were called in to control the situation. However, the boarders of “Wolfenden Hall” continued to resort to violent means in spite of the presence of police and faculty members. Two of the Wolfenden boarders were caught red handed with hockey sticks (it is to be noted that there is no hockey team in our university) by the faculty members. But, on insistence of Prof. Bhawani Prasad Mukhopadhay, the two were released with no charges being levied against them.

20.3.2008:
In the evening, party cadres brutally assaulted few students at the first gate of the university in front of R.A.F. SFI supporters helped them by pointing out the targets. When the students appealed to the R.A.F to take action, they resorted to indiscriminate “lathicharge” on the students. They even entered Richardson Hall without the permission of the hostel superintendent and assaulted the boarders, including a physically handicapped student. More than twenty students were seriously injured. The same act was repeated in Sengupta as well as Sen Halls. The dual policy adopted by the R.A.F. was apparent from the ease with which cadres were roaming freely and threatening us in the presence of R.A.F. In the mean time SFI supporters attacked 2nd year hostels. The 2nd year students were so terrified that they sought our help. We took them to our hostels, called our University doctors and provided them with First Aid. Strangely, the authority’s idea of assistance was an order to vacate the hostels near midnight. Buses were provided to transport us to the Howrah station. We narrated the ordeal of the 2nd year students to police. They assured us that the 2nd year students would be able to reach their hostels. So we boarded the bus provided by the authority. But unfortunately when we reached Howrah Station we came to know that the hapless 2nd year students were arrested by police charging them of loitering in the campus after 10-30 pm.

You can surely understand that we, the students have become victims of SFI-Authority-Police nexus whose sole motive is to de-stabilize our esteemed Institution. Our very existence in the University campus is at stake. We would like to vehemently protest against the barbaric treatment given to the ordinary students.

24.03.2008:
Students were put under virtual house arrest, and their free movement was restricted by the police. They even threatened students of dire consequences, which included threatening them with initiation of legal proceedings and disrupting their careers, for no valid reason.

The press was not allowed to enter the campus and report the incidents occurring inside. Even the students were not allowed to go near the press and express their views. This constitutes a gross violation of human rights.

We would like to appeal to you to bring this to the attention of the nation at large and help us to bring the offenders to justice.

With warm regards,
Students (U.G)
BESU,Shibpur

SIBPUR BESU UPDATE

1. The Sibpur BESU students are continuing their sit-in at Metro Channel, Esplanade. Almost everybody has submitted a blank sheet in the examinations. Many have again written "Save BESU from becoming a Nandigram".

On Thursday, March 27, they are calling for solidarity from students, teachers, engineers and other intellectuals. They have obtained formal police permission for a structure from 4-8 pm at Metro Channel, Esplanade.

2. The authorities at BESU have opened the sealed packets containing scripts, before delivery to the examiners, with the motivation of picking out victims. Because the confidentiality of the examination process has been compromised, the teachers at BESU, after a council meeting, declared the examinations to be null and void.

Some samples of what happened :

Moloy (name changed), after being assaulted reached the Registrar to complain against the assailants. He was still covered with blood. The Registrar handed him a copy of a complaint against himself, filed by the assailants to the effect that Moloy had assaulted them.

Subir, Pankaj, Joy and others (names changed) complained to the VC when he came to their hostel that they had been cruelly assaulted. The VS smiled sweetly and said , "Why are you making up stories? Nobody assaulted you."

Both of these characters have been tireless in telling students and guardians that the students should join the SFI (students' outfit of the ruling communists of West Bengal) and all trouble would stop.

There should be a Citizens' Enquiry into these alleged misdemeanors of the Vice Chancellor and the Registrar of BESU.