Presidency University authorities have taken disciplinary action against four students, who are members of the Trinamul Congress Chhatra Parishad (TMCP) unit on the campus.
The authorities have taken this decision against the students on Friday night because of their alleged involvement in students’ unrest and violence in and around the university in February and last year August.
Of the four, two have been “suspended from all academic activities during the current semester and debarred from admission to Eden Hindu Hostel”.
A Presidency University official said these students won’t be able to attend classes and write the end-semester examination.
The remaining two have been debarred from admission to the hostel.
One of the suspended students is the secretary of the TMCP unit.
A presidency official said the disciplinary action included barring two from admission to hostel because the committee also probed alleged incidents of physical assault on students and attacks on the university’s properties that happened in and around the hostel from the late hours of February 22 to till the early hours of February 23.
A university of f icial said the four students, who don’t stay at the hostel, are barred from visiting the hostel to meet any friends.
Presidency University had constituted the committee on August 9, 2022, to investigate the unrest on the campus that culminated in students hitting the streets for a protest march in that month.
The trouble was part of a turf war on the campus. It had been brewing since August 3 following clashes between supporters of the SFI that is affiliated to the CPM, the IC (Independents’ Consolidation) that is an independent students’ platform and the TMCP.
The recent incident of assault in and around the hostel in February is an alleged continuation of the same turf war.
Ankan Das, the secretary of the TMCP unit who is a postgraduate final-year student, said: “The committee did not bother to hear our version properly. The decision was taken on the basis of deposition by the Left and ultra-Left students so that TMCP supporters can be harassed ahead of the students’ union elections.”
Education minister Bratya Basu said last week that the student union elections could be held after the panchayat elections, which are usually conducted in May.
The dean of students, Arun Kumar Maity, who acted as the nodal officer of the committee, served separate letters to the four students, detailing the content of the disciplinary action against them.
Maity told The Telegraph: “The high-powered committee that was established by vice-chancellor Anuradha Lohia was encouraged to inquire into various matters. On one such issue the decision has been served to the concerned persons.”
The dean of students, in a letter to one of the suspended students, wrote: “Looking at the degree of participation in the atrocities, the committee has found that you exceeded the norms of acceptable behaviour and recommended punishment for you. The vice-chancellor... has decided to impose the recommended punishment by way of suspension from all academic activities during the current semester. You are also debarred from admission to Eden Hindu Hostel.”
An official said the committee relied on reports, documents, declarations and depositions submitted by students, security personnel and employees of the university and CCTV footage and other digital evidence to arrive at the decision.
The students’ wing of the Trinamul Congress was launched at the university in February 2022. Before that there were primarily two outfits: the SFI and the IC.
