SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad July 27: The stoic silence of Binod Bihari Mahto Koylanchal University Teachers Association (BBMKUTA) over the assault of a senior woman professor by a guardian in the SSLNT Women’s College has triggered resentment among the teachers of the constituent colleges.
Even after 40 hours of the incident, BBMKUTA has not condemned the incident.
BBMKUTA general secretary Prof Himanshu Shekhar Choudhary and spokesperson of the association Prof Jitendra Aryan have yet to clear the stand of the association on the unsavoury episode that took place on Monday evening.
On July 25, a guardian of a girl examinee assaulted Dr Shobha Sarita, the head of the department economics cum examination controller of SSLNT Women’s College, in her chamber over an alleged missing mobile phone of the said girl.
The principal of the college Dr Sharmila Rani filed an FIR in the Sadar police station on the same night against the guardian and his four henchmen.
But teachers of the constituent colleges are peeved over the inaction of the teachers’ body on the incident. A senior professor pointed out that the principal discharged her official responsibility but the teachers’ body should have stood for her as the association is made for the safety of teachers.
However, the Federation of Universities Teachers Association of Jharkhand (FUTAJ) has condemned the assault on the senior professor in Dhanbad. State president of FUTAJ Pro N K Singh said that it is a serious matter and the university teachers’ association should take a step in the matter. “After all our body is meant for the protection of teachers,” he said.
“At least BBMKUTA should take cognizance and lodge written protest to the Vice-Chancellor for expelling the student so that a clear message goes out that there would be no compromise on teachers’ safety and dignity,” said FUTAJ president from Dumka.
A senior lecturer, requesting anonymity said, “We believe that the association is formed not only for promotion and pay scale-related agitation but also for the safety and dignity of the teachers. But the present body does not look not serious about the incident.”
Retired senior Prof SKL Das said that the incident is serious and unfortunate. “What happened with a senior teacher, that too with a woman, by an outsider on the campus should be condemned in strong words. Legal action must be taken to protest for keeping the dignity of the teachers,” said Prof Das, who is also the ex-principal of SSLNT Women’s College.
Prof NK Ambastha, the senior retired professor of the university, said that assault on the teacher is a serious matter and the teachers’ body should not compromise with it. “Similar incident also occurred in PK Roy Memorial College 25 years ago. On behalf of the teacher, I filed an FIR against the student leader. Whenever such issues appeared, we did not hesitate in wielding Lathi,” said Prof Ambastha.
When tried to get the official version of BBMKUTA’s official spokesperson Prof Jitendra Aryan, he did not respond to messages and general secretary Prof Choudhary did not receive the call.
