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What began as a students’ protest against Jadavpur University authorities blew up into a huge rally here on Saturday.
Braving the odds, thousands — students as well as the public — took to the streets, demanding a probe into alleged police action on students and resignation of the varsity’s vice-chancellor Abhijit Chakrabarti and other senior officials.
The protestors demanded a fresh probe panel to investigate the alleged sexual harassment of a girl student inside the campus on August 28.
The huge protest witnessed on Saturday was perhaps the first one of such scale ever since the Mamata Banerjee government came to power in 2011.
The protest march brought traffic across central and parts of south Kolkata to a standstill.
Following the intervention of Governor KN Tripathi, the students subsequently called off their demonstration but have scheduled a meeting for Monday.
“Our movement has got moral support from the Governor and we are withdrawing the sit-in demonstration.
“All students will assemble at the Jadavpur University premises on Monday. We have not withdrawn our agitation and demand for justice,” said a student representative who met the Governor.
Initially, the protest was restricted to the campus. On September 16, the students gheraoed the varsity’s VC and two other officials.
The police was then called in to break the gherao in the wee hours of September 17, leading to alleged lathi-charge.
The VC said he feared for his life and hence sought help from the police.
This triggered a wave of protest within the campus; which subsequently spread across through social media. Fanning the fire, State Education Minister Partha Chatterjee justified police action and stood by the VC. Similarly, the city police commissioner also denied allegations of lathi-charge.
On Saturday, protestors began the rally from Nandan, the cultural hub of the city. The rally was stopped near Mayo Road by the police.
Indefinite sit-inInitially, the protestors threatened go on an indefinite sit-in demonstration if their demands were not met.
Following a one-and-a-half hour meeting with the Governor, the students temporarily withdrew the demonstration.
“We will decide on the next course of our agitation on Monday,” the student representative said.
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