A 52-year-old teacher at Jadavpur University held a sit-in because he said it was “unacceptable” that the state government and a large section of society “have remained unmoved” by the death of a former student of Aliah University.
Debamalya Banerjee, a professor in the production engineering department, sat on a plastic stool next to gate number 2 of the campus on Thursday as a mark of protest.
“I am the father of a student. I find it unacceptable that four visitors in police uniform barge into the home of a student and drive him to death,” he said, referring to the death of Anis Khan, whose family has alleged he was killed by men in police uniform.
“It is as much unacceptable to me that as society we have not protested the way we should have.”
Banerjee said he had joined a sit-in on the same campus in the late 80s as a student, against the then Left Front government’s decision to scrap the pass-fail system.
“It’s difficult to hold a sit-in at this age…. But what has happened is haunting me. Anis, who might be the same age as my son, was killed. The way he was dehumanised pains me,” Banerjee said.
The sit-in began at 10.30am.
The JU alumnus — Banerjee did his BTech, MTech and PhD in mechanical engineering from the university — carried an abridged Bhagavad Gita on him.
As he refused to call off the protest, other teachers called a doctor attached with the university to examine his blood pressure and pulse rate.
In the late afternoon the doctor recommended hospitalisation as the pulse rate dropped and the pressure shot up.
He was admitted to the K.P.C Medical College and Hospital in the evening.