Kolkata: Calcutta High Court ex-judge Pranab Chatterjee will head the five-member committee set up by Jadavpur University to probe the campus vandalism and violence on Aug 19 and 20, vice-chancellor Chiranjib Bhattacharjee announced at a meeting attended by all stakeholders of the institution on Monday.Subha Shankar Sarkar, a retired academic, had been appointed to head the committee, but he refused to take on the role.The RSS-backed Akhil Bharatiya Rashtriya Shaikshik Mahasangh (ABRSM) had objected to Sarkar’s appointment and demanded that a retired judge be asked to conduct the inquiry.The probe panel will hold its first meeting on Aug 27, officials said.The JU authorities dissolved the committee of the students’ grievance cell, which was headed by former VC Buddhadeb Sau. CCTV footage had emerged showing Sau entering the university premises around the same time when a right-wing mob went on a rampage on the campus early on Aug 20.CCTV footage showed Sau, a functionary of ABRSM, talking to Subhabrata Adhikary, a member of the central working committee of ABVP, the students wing of RSS, while outsiders were vandalising the premises.It was decided at the stakeholders’ meeting that JU would constitute a committee to investigate the possible security lapses. CCTV footage and videos captured by cellphones showed that the right-wing activists had not encountered any resistance when they entered the campus through gate 4 shortly after Aug 19 midnight.Students across faculties and political organisations have demanded that “insiders” who helped “outsiders” storm the campus be brought within the purview of the investigation and suspended from the campus. They also demanded that Sau be removed from the post of chairperson of the committee of the students’ grievance cell.A source said, “The committee headed by Sau has been dissolved. But there was no unanimous resolution on suspension of the insiders who were seen on CCTV footage helping outsiders.”Reacting to the decision to dissolve the committee, Sau said, “This is a sign of the VC’s indecisiveness. I am being targetted as I have been exposing a lot of corruption. Any sane teacher is expected to step forward if a clash breaks out between two groups of students. I was spotted at gate 4 chatting with someone, who is an ABVP functionary. Does that mean that I took part in the vandalism?”Sources said VC Bhattacharjee had emailed the higher education department seeking a tripartite meeting — involving the govt, JU authorities and students — to discuss the possibility of an early students union election. Later, pro-VC Amitava Datta sent a message to students saying, “We had a positive meeting with all stakeholders today… Follow up discussions, if any, may continue tomorrow…”The university issued a notice stating that all concerned can send their depositions on the vandalism and violence to a designated email address by 10 am on Aug 27. The depositions will be placed before the probe panel at its first meeting.
