Students on a hunger strike at Bangabasi College of Commerce on Monday. Picture courtesy STAR Ananda

A computer of contention in the teachers’ room has shut Bangabasi College of Commerce down.

The teachers began a ceasework on Friday to protest “baseless allegations” by students that some of them were watching pornographic sites on the Internet instead of taking classes.

On Monday afternoon, 40 students retaliated by launching an “indefinite hunger strike” demanding removal of the computer from the teachers’ room.

“Some of the teachers have become irregular in taking classes. They, instead, spend time in the staff room watching indecent sites on the Net. The hunger strike will continue till corrective steps are taken,” said Sourabh Chakraborty, a state committee member of Chhatra Parishad, which controls the college union.

Denying the allegations, teacher-in-charge Sanjoy Roy said: “The complaints are baseless. The teachers use the Internet only for research.”

Trouble on the campus at 35 Scott Lane in central Calcutta started last Thursday evening when a large number of students gheraoed principal Asitmoy Sarkar and teachers demanding action against those “who were not taking classes”.

The students sought an inquiry and demanded that the computer in the staff room be shifted to the library. The teachers lodged a counter-complaint with the principal late on Thursday, alleging that some of the students had heckled them during the gherao and threatened them with “dire consequences” if they did not mend their ways.

As a mark of protest, the teachers boycotted classes from Friday. Students hit the protest path on Monday.

A second-year student who did not want to be named said: “We went to the staff room on Thursday to look for a teacher who had not turned up for a classes. We found him there surfing pornographic sites with some colleagues.” The teachers rubbished the charge.

Principal Sarkar was not available for comment.