By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter
It seems that the impasse over daily activities in Aliah University is unlikely to end anytime soon, with students participating in a huge rally on Wednesday afternoon to protest against the arrest of nine students on August 12 and burning an effigy of the Vice Chancellor.
The 3-km long protest march follows the arrest of students for their alleged role of besieging the car of the Principal Secretary, Suresh Kumar, Department of Minority Affairs and Madrassa Education. The students, who were denied bail on August 16, were released August 19. Students from other renowned universities like Calcutta University, Jadavpur University, Presidency University, West Bengal State University participated in this rally as well. The demonstration ended with the burning of an effigy of the Vice Chancellor and submission of a deputation to the Chief Minister through the Assistant Commissioner of Police who was present there.
Among the allegations for today’s rally against the Vice Chancellor Dr. Abu Taleb Khan was the slashing of seats for various departments compared with last year, recruitment of good full-time faculties in proportion to the teacher-student ratio, more focus on quality education, instead of quantifying buildings, rooms; inquiry of corruption related issues in the recruitment of teaching and non-teaching staffs.
When the validity of the allegations of the students regarding the slashing of admission seats in Master of Computer Application (M.C.A) was asked, Dr. Nursadh Ali, the registrar of this university, refused to accept them completely and stated “the course has been merged with Computer Engineering, so this year there is no separate course as Masters in Computer Application (MCA).” He also added the fact that “M.Tech could accommodate fewer students this year compared to the previous year in accordance with the AICTE norms under which the university received its recognition this year.”
When asked about his involvement in this protest march, Anupam Pani, the zonal secretary of Democratic Students’ Organisation, Kolkata zone, remarked, “Such inhuman treatment of students is highly condemnable. This cannot be encouraged by any means and our presence is a mark of protest against such nefarious deeds of the authority.”
Kazi Minhazul Islam, a protesting student from MCA department, said, “Today we have submitted a deputation to the Chief Minister through the A.C.P seeking our Chief Minister’s intervention to tarnish this long term agitation so that we can continue our classes regularly.”
The students’ agitation in the campuses of Aliah University regarding some demands as well as allegations against the administration has been perpetuating for more than a month resulting suspension of classes. This stalemate is a major concern for many guardians of the students and for the civil society at large fearing the future of the students, especially who are in their last semesters.
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Aliah University standoff continues; nine students arrested, three hospitalised during protests
Aliah University is only a decade old, but its problems are all too familiar