Visva-Bharati issues second show-cause notice to professor who filed FIR against Vice-Chancellor

The Visva-Bharati University has issued a second show-cause notice to a professor, who had lodged an FIR against the Vice-Chancellor, asking him to clarify how he might make statements to the media concerning the case against the Vice-Chancellor.

Professor Manas Maity of Physics division had lodged an FIR against Vice-Chancellor Bidyut Chakraborty at Santiniketan police station on June 12 for allegedly insulting and humiliating him and another college members by making some “unsavoury comments” against them on the assembly.

The Central college on Monday requested Mr. Maity to clarify how he might make assertion about submitting of the FIR against the V-C. The varsity stated such feedback by the involved “is scurrilous and prejudicial” against the curiosity of Visva-Bharati.

A varsity supply stated Mr. Maity was requested to reply inside three days.

“A section of teachers affiliated to a left body are working to malign the V-C. They are working against the interest of Visva-Bharati and only obsessed to create controversy by using media. Their voices are heard via media but not the majority of staff who are miffed over their conduct and want academic activities to continue. But these vast majority do not come out in open. We will put an end to such practices by the left association,” the supply stated.

Earlier the Visva-Bharati University authorities on June 13 had issued a show-cause notice to Mr. Maity accusing him of exhibiting inappropriate behaviour in direction of the Vice-Chancellor and never following his directions throughout a digital assembly.

The Central college authorities claimed within the notice that Prof. Manas Maity had “hurled abuses” on the V-C after being requested to communicate on the difficulty of disbursement of salaries and allegations of “some teachers being lackeys and trying to derail the agenda by making wild allegations”, through the assembly on June 8.

Mr. Maity was requested to reply to the fees inside three days.

Meanwhile, the Jadavpur University Teachers Association (JUTA) on Monday alleged that the Visva-Bharati authorities are pursuing vendetta politics against Mr. Maity for submitting an FIR against the V-C.

Alleging that the V-C has issued a gag order against academics and different staff, forbidding them from making any statements to the press, JUTA General Secretary Parthapratim Roy stated in a press release: “Only those who are willing to sing the Vice-Chancellor’s praises in public will be allowed to do so.” “Others will be silenced through the use of charge-sheets, show-cause notices, and so on,” JUTA stated, including “the Vice-Chancellor’s charges against Professor Manas Maity, for allegedly saying uncomplimentary things at the meeting of June 8, are completely unfounded, since Professor Maity did not even speak at the said meeting.” “We apprehend that these charges were brought against Professor Maity because he is an executive committee member of the Visva-Bharati University Faculty Association (VBUFA), and has earlier protested against the Vice-Chancellor’s autocratic ways,” JUTA stated.

The All Bengal University Teachers Association (ABUTA) additionally condemned the suspension of the professor and demanded fast withdrawal of the suspension order.