Kolkata: In a recurrence of events, West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday was forced to leave before the commencement of the convocation ceremony of the Calcutta University after facing "go back" slogans from students at Nazrul Mancha here.
Although visibly irked, Dhankhar refused to comment on the matter.
Dhankhar, who is also the chancellor of the university, later said "those that compromised culture and decorum need to be in a reflective mode".
CU vice-chancellor Sonali Chakraborty Banerjee pleaded to the students from the dais to maintain decorum and not hamper the annual convocation where Nobel laureate Abhijeet Banerjee was also set to receive an honorary D.Litt (honoris causa).
Around 1 pm, Dhankhar reached CU to attend the convocation, but protesters blocked his convoy. They waved black flags and raised "go back" slogans as Dhankhar failed to convince them of his stand on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
The protesters also questioned Dhankhar's neutrality as Governor, claiming that he was acting on the instructions of the BJP. They were later assuaged by Banerjee, who said that the Governor would not be a part of the annual convocation. The presentation of the honorary D.Litt to Nobel Laureate Banerjee was also delayed on account of the commotion.
Taking to Twitter later, Dhankhar later shared pictures of his rendezvous with the Nobel laureate and said, "The actions of those who created or stage managed unseemly spectacle would resonate for long in the ears of the cultured people of WB (West Bengal)."
"The uppermost thought in mind while leaving Calcutta University without attending the convocation is to ensure there is no compromise of the immense respect we have for Nobel laureate Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee on whom we are conferring honorary D.Litt (honoris causa)," he tweeted.
Dhankhar also showered praises on Banerjee and said he was a "man of sterling qualities and disarming grace... greatly touched by his modest approach and depth".
This is the second time that Dhankhar has faced such an incident. On December 24 last year, he was forced to leave Jadavpur University (JU) after administrative officials at a meeting decided to go ahead with the convocation without him. The decision was taken on the back of anti-governor protests from a section of students and the teaching staff.
Dhankhar had then said that democracy is being chained and the rule of the law is collapsing. "The university management is doing nothing at all. The state administration is doing nothing at all. All this has happened because the state has chosen to put education in captivity. It is remote controlled Vice Chancellor (Suranjan Das) who is acting in this manner," he had said.
Dhankhar had also said that West Bengal had destroyed the situation by politicising education.
(With inputs from PTI)
Comments
0 comment