Jadavpur University will hold a special convocation on December 24 to confer an honorary DLitt on Harmanpreet Kaur, captain of the Indian women’s cricket team, who led India to a historic World Cup victory on November 2.
The decision was made on Friday, during a meeting of the university’s executive council, its highest decision-making body, which convened for the first time since Chiranjib Bhattacharjee took over as the full-term vice-chancellor in early November.
Metro had reported that Harmanpreet’s name was first proposed by a four-
dean committee on November 6.
VC Bhattacharjee said: “The executive council has approved the name of Harmanpreet Kaur, as proposed by the deans’ committee. I met Bengal governor C.V. Ananda Bose (also the ex officio chancellor of state universities) and apprised him of the proposal. He gave his approval. The special convocation will be held on December 24 to confer the DLitt (honoris causa), subject to her availability.”
Harmanpreet was chosen for the honour in recognition of her significant contributions to the world of cricket, particularly in advancing women’s cricket in India. “She represents the new-age Indian women’s cricketer, part of a generation that has been at the centre of ad campaigns, endorsements, central contracts, and pay parity with male cricketers,” Bhattacharjee added.
The university will reach out to Harmanpreet’s office to confirm her availability for the event on December 24.
Traditionally, JU holds its special convocation alongside the annual convocation on the same day. However, this tradition was disrupted in 2019 when the university returned DLitt and DSc (honorary) certificates to then chancellor Jagdeep Dhankhar after he called VC Suranjan Das and allegedly expressed dissatisfaction over the decision to defer the special convocation without his consent.
The university had decided not to hold the special convocation in the absence of the chancellor, amid student opposition to his presence on campus due to his support for the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC). In response, an emergency meeting of the executive council was held, where it was decided not to invite Dhankhar to the convocation, as students planned to boycott him if he attended.
Since then, Jadavpur University has only held its annual convocation without the special convocation. “This year, the situation has improved,” said a JU official.
The university has resolved to hold the special convocation with the chancellor in attendance. “We are hopeful of holding the special convocation, and we have invited the chancellor to both the special and annual convocations,” VC Bhattacharjee said.
Nobel laureate Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee will be invited to be the chief guest at the convocation, while former ISRO chairman S. Somanath will be invited as a special guest.
Suman Chakraborty, the director of IIT Kharagpur and a former Jadavpur University student, will be invited as the guest of honour, according to Manojit Mandal, an executive council member.