Nearly a century after he was expelled,Netaji finds pride of place at Presidency

On February 16,1916,two students — Ananda Mohan Dam and Subhas Chandra Bose — were expelled from the college on charges of assaulting a teacher, E F Oaten.

Head of the Political Science department of the college,Professor Nandalal Chakraborty,said: “When the principal told Subhas Chandra Bose that he had been expelled,his reply was — Thank you very much. And he left the college.”

Professor Amal Kumar Mukhopadhyay,a former principal of the college who has done extensive research on Netaji’s stay at the college (July 1913 — February 1916),claimed there have been a number of attempts to give Netaji the recognition that he deserved but the college failed to do so in the past.

“In 1952,when the students wanted to celebrate Netaji’s birthday,the college administration refused to give them the permission,” said Mukhopadhyay.

It was Mukhopadhyay who revoked the suspension on Bose in 1996,when he was the principal,despite strong opposition from a section of historians.

On February 15,1916,E F Oaten was heckled by the students. When the authorities could not find any student after a thorough search,the next day,the students were paraded in the ante-chamber of principal Henry Rosher James’s office and an office employee was asked to identify the students through a hole in the wall of the principal’s office.

According to Mukhopadhyay,Bose was the first representative of the students consultative committee of the college set up by James.

Bose had led the first ever students’ strike on January 11,1915 — which might have been the first such strike in the state. The issue was protest against the same teacher,Oaten,said Mukhopadhyay,adding,during that period,38 Indian and seven foreigners were teaching in the college.

“Injustice was meted out to Subhas Chandra Bose. Today,the college gave a befitting reply for the injustice,” said Professor Surnajan Das,a well-known contemporary historian and the Vice-Chancellor of Calcutta University.

The institute also took the pledge of starting a research centre on the life and teachings of Netaji.