Jadavpur University students will settle for nothing less than Vice Chancellor Abhijit Chakraborty's exit for letting loose political goons and Rapid Action Troops on peaceful protesters in the campus. Indrani Roy reports
Describing the behaviour of the agitating students as "absolutely deplorable", he alleged that the protesters were trying to "disturb peace" at the institute by "instigating the students and seminar organisers to create a stampede-like situation".
The rallies were organised from R G Kar hospital, Sagore Dutta Hospital, SSKM Hospital, Calcutta Medical College, and Jadavpur in south Kolkata.
Another student of the department, said around 25 of his batchmates did not go to the podium to collect their degrees.
In the state capital Kolkata, civil society members marched from Ramlila Maidan in Moulali to Metro Channel in Esplanade, demanding justice for the victim of the crime that shook the conscience of the nation.
Responding to the 'Women, Reclaim the Night' call given on social media by commoners, college students, home-makers and employees of offices will congregate in key thoroughfares in small towns and big cities, including in various parts of Kolkata.
Widespread violence between supporters of the Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party over alleged electoral malpractices in strife-torn Sandeshkhali marred the final phase of Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal on Saturday, resulting in injuries to a number of people.
In controversial comments, Abhishek Banerjee, Trinamool Congress member of Parliament and nephew of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, referred Jadavpur University protestors as "drug addicts" questioning whether the student protests in Jadavpur University were because of a ban on drugs and liquor inside the campus.
Kolkata experienced a unique and powerful display of civic solidarity when residents turned off their lights for an hour from 9 pm on Wednesday and came down to the streets with burning candles to protest the murder of the doctor at RG Kar hospital and to express support for the deceased doctor's family.
'One Sandeshkhali won't turn around women's perception of Mamata Banerjee in this state'
"Student unrest has become a common phenomenon in JU. The trend of CPI-M and Left-backed student unions of JU has been to stop anything that is against their ideology, which is totally against the country's democratic set up. We condemn it," state BJP chief Dilip Ghosh said.
With Jadavpur University students demanding the Vice Chancellor's resignation over a molestation case, an apology message attributed to the VC was on Saturday posted on the varsity website, which official sources denied claiming the website has been hacked.
'Days ago, India witnessed the horror of the brutal rape and murder of a woman doctor on night duty at the R G Kar hospital in Kolkata.' 'The crime was so outrageous that any self-respecting chief minister should have resigned, bearing moral responsibility.' 'But then the terms 'self-respect' and 'moral responsibility' do not exist in the modern Indian political lexicon,' argues Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta (retd).
The ABVP state secretary Subir Haldar threatened to "cut off" the legs of "anti-national" Left-aligned students of Jadavpur University if they stepped out of the campus.
In a rerun of the 'Reclaim the Night' campaign, hundreds of women took to the streets in Kolkata and other parts of West Bengal on Sunday night, demanding justice for the alleged rape and murder of a doctor in the state-run R G Kar Medical College and Hospital.
The cops' RTI reply does clear the air about the varsity chief's role on that eventful night. The letter, however, fails to explain how his 'unarmed police' resorted to merciless lathi-charge, video footage of which was broadcast by many television channels.
The marathon polling process to elect the 18th Lok Sabha ended on Saturday with the seventh phase of elections witnessing an approximate voter turnout of 62.36 per cent, amid clashes between Trinamool Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party supporters in Sandeshkhali and some other parts of West Bengal.
Anasuya Sengupta became the first Indian to win the Best Actress award in the Un Certain Regard segment of the Cannes Film Festival.
Connect with professionals in your field through LinkedIn, industry events and workshops. Attend job fairs, conferences and meetups to expand your network. Apply for internships or short-term projects to gain practical experience, suggests rediffGURU Aasif Ahmed Khan.
A round-up of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Monday
An engineering student of the Jadavpur University has filed a police complaint, alleging he had to leave the university because of severe ragging at the hands of senior students in the hostel where he was staying.
A member of the Lok Sabha representing Jadavpur in West Bengal, Mimi Chakraborty is also an actor, politician and singer who is touted as the 'lady with the golden heart.
Classes for the first year began a couple of days back, as another student of that year alleged that ragging by a few seniors was behind his friend's death.
A round-up of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Saturday.
Announcing the first list of candidates, Left Front chairman Biman Bose said that of the 16 names announced, 14 are new, of whom three are women.
The Jadavpur University vice chancellor and registrar, who were gheraoed by students demanding a fresh probe panel on an alleged sexual harassment of a girl student inside the campus, were freed in the wee hours of Wednesday by a strong contingent of police force, which arrested 35 students.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) is unlikely to attend a meeting of the INDIA bloc on June 1, sources said, as it coincides with the last phase of voting in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls.
Former West Bengal chief minister and a front-ranking Marxist leader Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee will go down in the country's history as a pragmatic communist who kept aside his ideological convictions to woo capital for the industrialisation of his state.
This takes the total number of apprehended persons in this case to nine, a police officer said.
Slogans in favour of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru were raised in a rally brought out by Jadavpur University students in Kolkata on Tuesday to express solidarity with their JNU counterparts agitating against the arrest of their leader Kanhaiya Kumar for alleged sedition.
The fracas began after the film's screening ended late in the evening, and students from Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad fought with activists of Left-backed student unions in which a few of them received minor injuries, officials said.
The 13 arrested in connection with the death of the Jadavpur University fresher allegedly due to ragging and sexual molestation at the hostel will not be allowed to either enter its premises or the campus, according to a decision by the varsity's executive council.
Polling is scheduled in all 13 seats of Punjab and four of Himachal Pradesh, 13 constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, nine in West Bengal, eight in Bihar, six in Odisha and three seats in Jharkhand besides Chandigarh.
"We will complain. He can meditate, but televisions cannot show it," she said, alleging that this will amount to "violation of the MCC."
The Trinamool Congress's candidate selection for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls is expected to prioritise the nominee's winnability, public image and sitting MPs' performance, while also reflecting the internal debate on whether experienced leaders should make way for the younger generation.
Counting of votes for the Lok Sabha elections has begun across states and Union Territories, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar told PTI.
Other prominent candidates among the 904 in the fray are Union minister Anurag Thakur, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee, RJD supremo Lalu Prasad's daughter Misa Bharti.
History of sorts was created in Kolkata when about 60,000 people took to the streets of the West Bengal capital on Saturday demanding resignation of Jadavpur University vice-chancellor even as West Bengal Governor K N Tripathi intervened to end the four-day old stalemate in the prestigious educational institution.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said Narendra Modi should be referred to as a Bharatiya Janata Party leader and not as the prime minister in the saffron party's campaign as he is a 'caretaker PM'.
The cyclone ravaged adjacent coasts of the state and Bangladesh between Sagar Island and Khepupara, near the southwest of Mongla in the neighbouring country, after its landfall process began at 8.30 pm on Sunday.
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