Trinamul-Aligned Staff and Students Lock Up University Officials, Demand Convocation Delay

Tuesday for at least ten hours, some Trinamul-aligned non-teaching staff members and students at Kalyani University imprisoned interim vice chancellor Amalendu Bhuniya and sixteen other officials. They demanded that the convocation, which was set for Thursday, be postponed until a full-fledged VC was appointed.

Beyond 10 o'clock at night, the agitation subsided. After a full day, Bhuniya and the officials left the VC secretariat, but the interim VC did not tell the media whether the convocation would actually take place on Thursday as scheduled.

Protesters had claimed that degree certificates of students who had signed with an interim vice chancellor (VC) might not be valid and that he had no authority to arrange such an event. Shortly after Bhuniya started a convocation preparatory meeting with senior officials, they staged a protest outside the VC secretariat and locked its doors at midday.

The chancellor and governor of Bengal, C.V. Ananda Bose, reportedly gave the go-ahead for Kalyani University's 25th convocation, which will take place on December 7 following a five-year hiatus, according to university sources.

A lot of people have been looking forward to it since there hasn't been a convocation in five years, which prevented them from receiving their degree certificates. It caused issues when trying to find a job, conduct research, and pursue graduate studies.

As degree recipients, at least 700 people are listed.

According to Anjan Dutta, president of Sara Bangla Trinamul Shiksha Bandhu Samiti's Kalyani University branch, they too desired the convocation, but only after a permanent VC was in place.

"The event must take place only after a regular vice-chancellor joins, as per our demand. This is primarily due to our concerns regarding the authenticity of Bhuniya's signature on the certificates designating her as an interim VC."

In essence, researcher and student wing leader Tuhin Ghosh repeated Dutta when he said, "Appointing the interim VC is a sub judice matter." Our goal is a convocation conducted by a regular VC.

Nonetheless, the protest was denounced by members of the university teachers' association, Kalyani Biswabidyalaya Shikshak Samiti. Students who had been waiting five years for their degree certificates were told that the convocation was necessary. A group of educators presented Bhuniya with a memo pleading with him not to postpone the convocation in order to protect the students.

"Doubts regarding the interim VC's authority to arrange a convocation and the legitimacy of his signature on certificates are unfounded," stated Bhuniya. The demand to postpone the convocation when everything is prepared and the governor has given his approval astounds me. I am awaiting their instructions after informing the governor and chief minister about the unrest."

The Kalyani Trinamul leadership, according to sources, distanced itself from the unrest.

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