JU students 'rusticate' Chancellor Dhankhar

A section of Jadavpur University students sent an open letter of to West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, informing him of his "rustication" as Chancellor from the institution for "wasting" their valuable time and giving "unsatisfactory" responses to their questions.

The "letter of rustication" from the Arts Faculty Students Union was addressed to the "honourable ex-chancellor" with the subject line saying it would be "effective immediately".

"You are being informed of your rustication from the position of Chancellor of Jadavpur University. The students body of Jadavpur University has also decided to disown you from the position of Hon'ble Governor of West Bengal," the letter said.

To the letter was attached a report card which called the Governor's overall character "spineless", his general knowledge "less than satisfactory", augmentative capability "poor and sense of history nil".

It listed Dhankhar's strength as "unwavering dedication to ignoring violence against students, activists and Muslims".

The missive came amidst Dhankhar facing fierce protests from students and pro-Trinamool Congress staff union Sara Bangla Sikshabandhu Samiti who prevented him from attending the university court meeting as also the convocation on Monday and Tuesday respectively calling him an "agent of the BJP" and railing against him for supporting the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act.

Leading academics of West Bengal have already expressed their anguish with the happenings in Jadavpur University and the treatment meted out to the Governor.

"I strongly condemn what happened in JU Convocation. The Governor as the Chancellor of the university went to attend the ceremony. The standard convention is that all the diplomas, medals and other things are given by the Governor in his capacity as Chancellor of the university to the students.

"Here the governor was not allowed to enter the university premises. He waited there for long and only heard the ant-Governor slogans," said former Presidency College Principal Amol Mukhopadhyay.

( With inputs from IANS )