Jadavpur University students protest against professor

A section of Jadavpur University students on Tuesday boycotted classes and began an agitation demanding expulsion of International Relations' Professor Kanak Sarkar for his comments on virginity.

Sarkar, meanwhile, regretted 'his language' but stuck with his opinion of imparting 'moral values and ethics'.

Students came out in large numbers to participate in the campus protest.

"We want his immediate expulsion for the comments he made and also the way he has been speaking in class," a student said.

However, the Professor denied making any such comment in class.

"Social media posts and classroom are separate. I used my freedom of expression. Since people's sentiments are hurt, I regretted and deleted the post within an hour. I had tried to impart values and ethics. Maybe the language I used was inappropriate," Sarkar said.

In a series of Facebook posts, Sarkar had compared a virgin girl to a sealed "bottle of cold drink or a packet of biscuits" and commented that to men "virgin wife is like angel".

Expressing his view on extending an apology to the women, he said: "Women are no individual, they are a part of the society. I have my wife and daughter at home and they are not saying anything to me."

The professor also mentioned that when poet Srijato Bandopadhyay had faced an ordeal for speaking his mind, intellectuals had come out in support.

Giving a political twist to the row, he said: "I think students are against me because I support the ruling party."

--IANS

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