Suspended by Visva Bharati university, Dalit student to move national SC commission
The land issue is pending before a court in West Bengal's Birbhum district.
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A Dalit student at Visva-Bharati, suspended for a semester due to disciplinary issues, plans to appeal the decision by contacting the National Commission for Scheduled Castes. (File) A Dalit student of the Visva-Bharati, who was suspended recently for a semester on disciplinary grounds, on Sunday said he would move the National Commission for Scheduled Castes against the order of the central university.
Somnath Sow, an SFI leader, has been at the forefront of demonstrations against Vice Chancellor Bidyut Chakraborty on different issues since the VC had taken over in 2018. The university had suspended the student for “violating” campus discipline in 2020 also.
“I will move the National Commission of SCs & STs soon against the suspension for the third semester, MA in rural management, as a Dalit student whose right to free speech has been curbed,” Sow said.
Action was taken against him on July 27 ostensibly for his Facebook post on January 28 in which he had made some comments on the land ownership issue between Nobel laureate Amartya Sen and Visva-Bharati.
In the show-cause notice to Sow, the university had said that his Facebook post in support of the renowned economist was “full of false/misleading information, contrary to official records and official position of Visva-Bharati, aimed at denigrating, defaming and derogating Visva-Bharati as an institution and also its functionaries/officials and staff”.
The land issue is pending before a court in West Bengal’s Birbhum district.
The central university in a statement on Friday said that Sow was suspended following recommendations of a students’ disciplinary committee and the institute “is morally committed to carve out a course of correction for the deviant students and learners.” Sow added he would also move the Calcutta High Court against the university’s decision.
Visva-Bharati spokesperson Mahua Banerjee told PTI: “We have issued a statement and will not make any further comment on the issue.”
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