A day after being forced to resign in the wake of a sustained movement from the Jadavpur University students, outgoing Vice Chancellor Abhijeet Chakrabarty known for his proximity to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday called the day of his resignation a Black Day and said in tendering his resignation he had not succumbed to any pressure but was doing so simply to let the premier institution function normally.
His departing statements triggered instant protests among the students who called him a “dictator and a political person with ulterior motives.” Credited with the midnight police crackdown on the agitating students in September last year, the outgoing VC alleged that the leading educational institution of the country had of late turned into a centre for anarchy and cannabis trade.
“It has turned into an institution where anarchists and drug addicts indulge in undemocratic and unconstitutional activities,” the VC who had SMSed his intention to resign to the Education Minister after a brief chat with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said.
Dismissing claims that the Chief Minister’s intervention in extracting his resignation was a direct interference in the affairs of the University which was an autonomous body, the VC said, “the Chief Minister as the executive head of the State had every right to try and defuse problems but this does not mean that she interfered.”
Students who took out long processions celebrating “our victory and the victory of the entire student community of the country said contrary to Chakrabarty’s claims JU continued to be a centre of excellence ranking amongst the best of such institutions in the country.