By Mirza Mosaraf Hossain, TwoCircles.net
For the past three weeks, both the campuses of Aliah University: Park Circus and New Town, have come to a standstill due to protests over charges of corruption and nepotism against the University authority. The ongoing protests have also stalled the admission of new candidates for the session. Since the beginning of the session, no classes have been conducted for about 15 days due to protests and the main gate of the Park Circus campus has been blocked and even faculty and administration staff are not being allowed to enter the campus.
Though this is not the first time that this University has come into limelight for the wrong reasons, the current situation can be described as one of the gravest situation that this University has faced in its 10-year period.
While the University had been simmering with issues, the situation got worse in July, when protests erupted against the admission policies, administrative decisions, recruitments of various teaching and non-teaching staffs undertaken by the present Vice Chancellor and respective administrative bodies. On July 17, a group of 30 students from Theology Department gheraoed Vice Chancellor Dr Abu Taher Khan at the New Town Campus demanding why general degree course of Theology had been suspended. This led a tussle with administrations when students backed by the Trinamool Congress from B.Tech courses joined them to demand that each and every student who completed B-Tech should be given admission in M-Tech. In an interview with Anandabazar Patrika, the VC pointed out that among the protesting students were some who had more than 37 backlogs in their previous semesters.
All the protesting students demanded the resignation of the Vice Chancellor and they even blocked the V.C from entering the university compound on July 23. They also dismissed admission procedure for the new session which was scheduled on July 24. Since then, the students have been agitating with other issues that are very pertinent to the campus. According to Syed Zaidul Hasan, an M-Tech student, “Last year the Executive Council of this university formed a fact-finding Committee against corruption by the V.C that we submitted to the said Committee along with valid proofs. Though the Committee has finished its task of investigation which shows all the allegations that we drew are true, our V.C did not show any interest to publicise the report and that’s why we are protesting.” The other demands that they enlisted are the establishment of a separate library in Park Circus campus, solve the crisis of drinking water at the said campus, issuing of mark sheets in time so that students can apply wherever they want to, etc.
The Registrar of the University, Dr Nursadh Ali, said, “A dialogue between two dissenting groups is very necessary to resolve any problem. But there lies a vast gap between students and administration authority of this university to come up to any conclusion and that is very pathetic.”
Saidur Rahaman, an Assistant Professor in the Arabic Department, said, “Participation of the students in politics is good and student have the democratic right to protest. But making campuses standstill, disrupting academic curriculum is not the right way of protest. All should come forward actively to resolve this crisis.” He also said that coordination between teachers-students with the administration should be made so that basic demands of the students can be fulfilled at the earliest
It must be pointed out that while there are genuine concerns among students over various issues, the role of political parties especially the Trinamool Congress has only made the situation worse in the campus. According to students, a number of protesting students manhandled and used abusive language against several teachers.While most students want classes to continue, they are too scared to come out and speak as these protesters are politically connected. Many of them are not even students anymore and most of these students are simply using protests to disturb the normal functioning of the campus.
The regular students are also being threatened with dire consequences if they follow any classes. Yakul Rahaman, a third-year student of Electrical Engineering, said, “We are told by the agitating students not to follow any class and if we do then consequences will be dangerous for us”. He also said that there are hundreds of students who want to do classes but there is no one to come forward united and as protests have become a daily activity.
What is all the more surprising is that even as protests escalated, the administration has not even bothered to create and/or hire a Proctor for the University and neither is there any authority which can guarantee discipline or provide security. As a result, even for the smallest issues, the Police has to be called into the campus.
According to some Muslim scholars and community sympathisers, the fear is that the current situation may destroy the aspirations and dreams of the minorities of West Bengal. One Professor who refused to be named, said, “The present Bengal government has granted crores of rupees for its infrastructure, lab, and other related matters. Maulana Azad College and Lady Brabourne College were set up by the then Muslim philanthropists in order to upgrade Bengali Muslims’ overall improvement. But now there are hardly any Muslim students in these two institutions.” He added that the present turmoil over tag and war between administration and students at Aliah University is looming another Maulana Azad or Lady Brabourne college situation. “This University is often in news for all the wrong reasons and there is a collective failure of teachers, administration and students community. Every few months, there is a strike in the campus that affects academic work. Last year, classes were disturbed in the New Town science, engineering and management department for over 40 days” he said.
The grim situation in Aliah also must be seen in the context of the falling number of students from the Muslim community across campuses in West Bengal. A few days ago, we had done a story which showed how the minorities of West Bengal, especially Muslims, are being deprived of the benefits of Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservation categories both in Colleges-Universities admissions and state-run recruitment sectors. In such a scenario, Aliah University becomes the only campus where Muslims are assured of quality education. The problem is that the current situation in the University at a time when the admission process will only tarnish its image and put the academic lives of students in danger.