Jadavpur University has ordered a probe into who pulled down posters put up by a group of students alleging harassment and asserting the rights of female students to choose what to wear to class.
A letter to The Telegraph signed by both vice-chancellor Suranjan Das and pro-VC Chiranjeeb Bhattacharya says: “The university administration had not given either a verbal or written directive for removing the concerned posters. Upon reading the report (‘Probe on Poster at JU removed’) in your daily, pro VC and myself have already directed the HOD (of that department) to enquire into the matter and submit a report.”
The Telegraph had on Wednesday reported, based on statements from sources on the campus, that the university had ordered the removal of posters targeting a particular teacher whose conduct is now being probed by the university’s Internal Complaints Committee.
The students had on Tuesday found that the 25-odd posters — which were put up outside the teacher’s room, in the canteen and along corridors of Aurobinda Bhavan, the university’s administrative headquarters — were no longer there. They had described the action as denying them the right to stage a silent protest.
