Somnath condemns assault at Calcutta University

Former Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee on Wednesday condemned the alleged assault on Calcutta University teachers, and expressed alarm over the "degradation" in West Bengal's education sector.

A section of university teachers and staff claimed that they along with vice chancellor Suranjan Das were assaulted and heckled by supporters of the ruling Trinamool Congress students' wing.

"I don't know where the education sector is heading to in the state. People now have no respect for teachers or for educational institutions. I am extremely pained and concerned to see the level of degradation that education has now has reached in Bengal," said Chatterjee.

While the Trinamool Chhatra Parishad (TMCP) has rubbished the charges, state Education Minister Partha Chatterjee claimed Das too denied being assaulted.

"The vice chancellor told me nobody assaulted him and no such incident happened. I have sought a report of the whole incident from him," Partha Chatterjee said.

The alleged incident took place during an agitation by a section of teachers and other university employees against the suspension of finance officer Harisadhan Ghosh over allegations of corruption.

Claiming that the assailants were members of the TMCP, some teachers alleged that they pushed and shoved around and even women faculty members were not spared.

Noted poet Sankha Ghosh too condemned the incident.

Last month, a group of Aliah University students and TMCP activists vandalised the university premises after the rejection of their demand for granting them pass marks in a "tough" exam, its vice chancellor had said.