With Calcutta University (CU) Vice Chancellor Suranjan Das threatening to quit if no action was taken in the case of the assault on varsity teachers, West Bengal Governor K.N. Tripathi on Saturday urged the stakeholders to resolve the issue through dialogue."The vice-chancellor has expressed his opinion. The students and teachers should sit together and devise means to restore normalcy. The prime motive of teachers in the university is to teach and students to learn so let there be an atmosphere of teaching and learning," Tripathi told media persons here.Das, who along with a section of teaching and non-teaching staff were assaulted on Wednesday, allegedly by the members of the Trinamool Congress Chhatra Parishad (TMCP), on Friday said it would be "untenable" for him to continue, if the state government did not take action.
The vice chancellor, who initially had denied the assault, submitted a confidential report to Education Minister Partha Chatterjee giving detailed account of the "assault, the assaulters and who led the assault".An acclaimed academician, Das who is slated to take over as the vice-chancellor of Jadavpur University, made the volte-face on Thursday following the teaching fraternity along with eminent personalities hitting the streets in protests against the assault and slamming him for the silence.The issue has also taken political colour.While the opposition Left Front suggested Chatterjee to step down as the education minister, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has sought Tripathi's intervention against the Trinamool's bid to "spread hegemony to create anarchy in the entire education system"."If the minister can't deliver or feels he cannot ensure the education institutions are free from unruly elements, then he should better leave the job," Left Front chairman Biman Bose has said.
State BJP president Rahul Sinha in a memorandum to Tripathi, also the CU chancellor, described the assault as a blot on the academic pursuits at the 150-year-old institute. "The violent scenes outside the office of the VC, spoke volumes about the anarchy prevailing in the educational campuses in West Bengal."It is clearly evident that the ruling party has taken over the educational campuses and spreading hegemony to create anarchy in the entire education system," said Sinha urging Tripathi to intervene in the matter.