'I was not in Calcutta from September 2013 to July 2014. I was shocked that I could not recognise the Jadavpur (University) I saw on my return' Sukanta Chaudhuri

Jadavpur University has shockingly changed beyond recognition between September 2013 and July 2014, Sukanta Chaudhuri, the university’s emeritus professor of English, said on Tuesday at a convention to discuss how to restore normality on the campus.

“Ami majhe praye ek bochhor ekhaney chhilam na. 2013-r September thekey 2014-r July parjyonto ami Kolkata-r bairey chhilam, ebong firey esey etai marmantik bhabey anubhab korchhi je Jadavpur-ke aami chhere gechhilam... firey esey je Jadavpur ke ami dekchhi, ei duto ami melate parchhi na (I was not in Calcutta for about a year, from September 2013 to July 2014. I was shocked that I could not recognise the Jadavpur [University] I saw on my return),” Chaudhuri said at the convention organised by the Jadavpur University Teachers’ Association on the campus.

When Chaudhuri left Calcutta in September 2013, JU was helmed by Souvik Bhattacharyya. By the time he returned in July, the reins had passed on to current vice-chancellor Abhijit Chakrabarti.

“The two Jadavpurs are different. And I did not say September, I said August. If I must mention a date, it will be August 18.... Till the old Jadavpur is restored, I won’t say normality has returned, even if every student attends every class every day,” said Chaudhuri in his speech.

On August 18, the university authorities had asked the directors and joint directors of JU’s 21 inter-disciplinary schools to resign so that the governance structure could be reorganised.

Chaudhuri had in August written to Chakrabarti (then interim VC), highlighting the possible consequences of the move. “I have only one appeal. Let the pre-August 18 governance structure of the schools be restored. Let the directors be reappointed for two years. There are provisions for that. If that is done, the schools will function at least for two years,” Chaudhuri said towards the end of his 22-minute speech.

Chaudhuri was director of the school of cultural texts and records from 2003 till his retirement in 2010. He was succeeded by Amlan Dasgupta, professor, English department, who put in his papers on August 18.

Earlier in his speech, Chaudhuri had said he might have disappointed the organisers of the convention by not expressly referring to the recent “heart-wrenching incident” (the alleged police assault on students) on the campus.

“Perhaps you have realised the grain of my statement — it was not an isolated incident. It was a manifestation of a dangerous trend. We must resist the trend, we must reverse it,” Chaudhuri said.

The professor said he in-principle supported the five demands raised at the convention. The demands included the VC’s resignation and a judicial probe into the allegations of police assault on students on September 16. Juta secretary Nilanjana Gupta spelt out the demands at the convention.

The statement was seen as a reiteration of what Chaudhuri had said at a press conference after meeting governor Keshari Nath Tripathi, the JU chancellor, on September 29. Five emeritus professors of JU — Chaudhuri, Ashok Nath Basu, Jasodhara Bagchi, Amita Chatterjee and Anandadeb Mukherje — had told the chancellor that “an able leader” was needed to run the university.

In his speech Chaudhuri expressed the fear that academics at JU would come under attack once the media focus shifted elsewhere after the return of “so-called normality”.

“As of now, the academic standard of the university has not declined. But we apprehend the university will not be able to maintain its high academic standards if the authorities do not change their policies on certain issues,” he said.

Among the policies he criticised was the appointment of deans by government-appointed panels and empowering the VC to set up teacher selection committees. The changes in the policies on the appointment of deans and selection of university teachers were introduced after the Trinamul government amended the acts governing state universities in 2012.

VC Abhijit Chakrabarti said classes in all three faculties — engineering, science and arts — were held normally on Tuesday. The students, however, did not mark themselves present.