Jadavpur unrest: 70 percent Arts students vote in referendum

A large number of Jadavpur University students Thursday took part in the first phase of a referendum on their demand for the resignation of Vice Chancellor Abhijit Chakrabarti.

By 5 p.m. Thursday, 70 percent of the university's Arts and Humanities students had cast their votes. The two-day exercise will continue Friday.

The students have been clamouring for the removal of Chakrabarti since Sep 17 when the university authorities allegedly ordered a police crackdown to break up a sit-in of students who were demanding an independent investigation into the purported molestation of a female student inside a hostel.

"We want to democratically provide a means for the students to express their wish," said Gitashree Sarkar, general secretary of the university students' union.

Around 3,000 students voted on four issues - whether the vice chancellor should resign or not, whether the students want a judicial probe into the alleged molestation, whether there should be a judicial probe into the alleged police crackdown, and whether they were okay with the setting up of police pickets and mandatory display of identity cards.

Sarkar said the results will be declared Friday.

Students from the Science and Engineering disciplines will participate in the next leg of the exercise scheduled to be held Nov 11 and 12.

Thousands of agitating students and several faculty members led a massive rally Sep 19 in Kolkata, demanding Chakrabarti's removal and decrying police atrocities.

The incident had a ripple effect across the country with students and alumni holding smaller protest marches in cities like Delhi and Mumbai. Through social networking websites, the agitation brought together the Kolkata diaspora and university alumni in solidarity.

Amid the raging clamour for his removal, Chakrabarti, who was the interim vice chancellor, was last month given full-time responsibility by West Bengal Governor K.N. Tripathi, who is ex-officio Chancellor of the Jadavpur University.

The state government has instituted a five-member probe panel headed by Calcutta University Vice Chancellor Suranjan Das.

Two university students and a former student have been arrested in connection with the alleged molestation.