Ex-TMC minister asks 2 college students who took part in Kolkata rape-murder protests to leave class, sparks row

“On September 18, we held a street painting protest outside the college. Yesterday, when he (Santra) entered the class, he told us to get out since we protested. We asked whether our protest was wrong. He kept on saying that since we had protested we could not sit in class. We were shocked when he told us to get out and not to return,” Dipika told the media.

“He said he had suspended us and would let us know when we could join the class. We did not do anything wrong. We were just part of a protest programme against the brutal rape and murder of a doctor inside a government hospital. We do not know what we did wrong,” Dipika added.

Santra, who is also head of the Geography department at the college, defended his decision. “We are also protesting for justice. These two girls were collecting money from students to organise protests. They belong to a political party (Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist)). There were complaints from other students that they were asking for subscriptions for protests. That is unacceptable and that is why I told them to leave and not attend classes,” Santra told the media.

“There are 250 students in our department. I ensured that a proper environment was maintained in class. I ensured that there was no politics in class. They were taking money and forcing other students to join protests,” Santra added.

Speaking to the media, Debabrata Mukherjee, a teacher in charge of the college, said, “Students have brought this matter up to me. I will call a meeting and solve the matter. That is all I can say.” Mukherjee added that on Wednesday, students had sought permission for the protest. “I told them that I cannot allow it inside the campus. Then they organised their protests outside the college,” Mukherjee said.