Head of the International relation department of Jadavpur University wrote to Vice Chancellor Suranjan Das demanding “action” against an assistant professor of the department for attacking a PhD student by citing words like “quota” on the basis of caste identity. An official said, the assistant professor was the research supervisor of the student and further the student belongs to OBC category.
According to sources, a meeting was held where members included teachers of the international relations department of the PhD research committee (PRC) to discuss a student’s plea for replacing the supervisor as she felt that her research is not progressing . During that meeting assistant professor attacked the student referring to her caste.
Later,Prof. Iman Kalyan head of the department sent a letter to vice chancellor quoting the PRC’s decision and further mentioned that the members of the meeting were shocked to see the attitude of the teacher towards students on the basis of their caste. Given the sensitivity of the matter and the candidate’s social background, the committee recommends the matter be referred to the vice-chancellor for his review and action.”
When contacted, the teacher stated that the allegations were “baseless and ridiculous.” “Anyone can make any allegation. But those must be proven”, the teacher claimed.
“I wrote to the authorities twice, requesting a change in my guide. At the time, I didn’t notice any caste bias in my teacher’s behaviour toward me. However, I found out after a complaint was filed with the Vice Chancellor on behalf of my department that I was attacked at a meeting for my caste”, the student further mentioned.
Further, the Vice-chancellor returned the complaint to the departmental research committee as he believed that committee will take a right action towards the teacher.