Jadavpur University on Monday formed a three-member committee consisting of senior academics and the chancellor's nominee to look into the controversy surrounding a hijab-wearing student during a third-year English semester exam, and asked the panel to submit its report within a month.

Vice-Chancellor Chiranjib Bhattacharya said in a statement that the committee comprises Burdwan University history professor Syed Tanveer Nasreen, Subarna Kumar Das of JU’s department of library and information science and liaison officer of the SC and ST Cell, and Padmashree Kazi Masum Akhtar, the chancellor’s nominee to the university’s Executive Council.

"JU has taken the matter relating to the issue of hijab-wearing examinee of the department of English with a serious note. Under the direction of the VC, a fact-finding committee has been formed," he said.

Deputy Registrar (Addl) Ujjwal Kumar Mondal has been asked to be the 'presenting officer' in this matter.

"The committee will submit its report within 30 days," the VC said.

Members of the arts faculty SFI unit told PTI after the convocation on December 24 that during an English semester exam on December 17, an invigilator asked a third-year undergraduate female student, wearing a headscarf, to help her classmate partially remove her hijab to ascertain if she was using any wireless headphone.

The check reportedly revealed nothing suspicious.

"We protest such conduct against our junior classmate which hurt her sentiments. We did not create a ruckus but thought such conduct is unthinkable in a place like JU known for its liberal and secular views. So, some of our students only held a poster "There is no place for Islamophobia at Jadavpur University" while receiving our citations and certificates from the vice-chancellor during the annual convocation.

Faculty members, however, rejected the allegations.

A senior English department professor earlier said, "We deny allegations of Islamophobia. Several students were caught attempting to cheat during the exam, following which vigilance was tightened. If anyone's conduct seemed suspicious, re-checking was carried out. At least four examinees were caught using headphones last week, none of whom belonged to the minority community." The professor added, "On that day, a student wearing a hijab was caught using headphones by research scholars on invigilation duty. She was asked to cooperate by another third-year female student wearing a hoodie and taken to an adjacent room where no one else was present." The professor also clarified, "Two other students wearing hijab, one of them differently abled, were not checked. JU will be the last place to be levelled with such charges as Islamophobia. If teachers are targeted in this manner, it would become impossible for them to carry out their duties."

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