Presidency varsity VC gherao lifted, students continue protest

A 26-hour-long gherao of Presidency University Vice Chancellor Anuradha Lohia ended tonight after she left the campus following the convocation saying she is unwell, but demonstration by students continued.
"I am feeling unwell and therefore leaving the campus now," Lohia said an hour after the convocation and the students allowed her to go.
The students, however, insisted on her resignation saying they would continue to occupy the office.
"We had decided to allow her leave the campus since she has been feeling unwell, but our protests will continue. We will continue to occupy the office till she resigns," Trisha Chanda, general secretary of the students union, told PTI.

The boycott call given by a section of protesting students failed to cast shadow over the convocation ceremony which was attended by students in large numbers.
The mood at the university campus was divided as many students shouted 'We want convocation' while others raised slogans demanding the VC's resignation over alleged police assault on students protesting during West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's visit to the campus yesterday.

A couple of hours before the convocation, the VC was escorted by teachers from her office to the function hall on the other end of the sprawling campus.
The convocation was attended by Governor K N Tripathi, who is also the chancellor of the university.

During her convocation speech, Lohia referred to the agitation saying every challenge is an opportunity.
"My faculty and students stood by me and made sure that nothing marred the convocation. Thank you faculty, thank you students," she said.