West Bengal's Visva Bharati University is in the middle of a controversy yet again. This time the allegation is that the Vice-Chancellor Dr Bidyut Chakraborty and his associates have threatened the life of a student, Somenath Sow. Somenath is one of the three students who were earlier rusticated by the university. The Calcutta High Court had quashed the varsity's order rusticating these students and asked the university to let them get back to class. Now, Somenath, a final-year postgraduate student of Economics, has filed a complaint with the local police asking for protection.
On November 19, the university had organised a tree plantation drive. Somenath was driving past the Central Office when he spotted the VC along with a few of his associates. "I was asked to park my bike as I came near them. Acting on the VC's order, Gautam Saha, a teacher from the Shiksha Satra school, threatened me and asked me to leave immediately. He then let some security personnel loose and they first pushed me around and then carried me on all fours till the Philosophy Department where they threw me on the ground," claimed Somenath.
But his ordeal didn't end here. It was then that Somenath was allegedly abused and his life was threatened. "Gautam Saha followed me where I was thrown down and started abusing me and my family. He then went on to threaten me and said that a 'begger' like me can be dealt with out of campus very easily. He even threatened my life," said Somenath in his letter to the SHO of the Santiniketan Police Station.
While the university has kept mum, the VBU Faculty Association (VBUFA) condemned the act and said that they can only hope for a speedy investigation by the police. "We condemn the organised attack on Somenath Sow by a well-known lackey of the VC and some unidentified security persons. We understand that VC has instructed the same attack as he always did in the past. We hope police will take stern action regarding the same on the basis of a police complaint by Somenath," said the VBUFA in a statement.
