Kol campuses give strike a miss, JU and Presidency only outliers
Times of India | 4 March 2025
12 Kolkata: Jadavpur University, the campus where the latest bout of violent student politics originated on Saturday, along with Presidency College, which has seen several episodes of student politics since the 1960s, were the only two outliers on Monday when most of Kolkata's other colleges and universities largely ignored the strike call by several Left unions.
The Left unions had called for a students' strike across Bengal on Monday, when several exams were scheduled in colleges and universities.
Following a general body meeting at JU, ultra-left organisations decided to continue the strike for three more days, till March 5. The second leg of JU exams is also scheduled on March 5. However, SFI clarified that it was only a one-day strike. It is still uncertain whether first-year engineering students will appear in the next exam scheduled for Wednesday. JU professors are in favour of holding classes from Tuesday.
Around 738 first-year engineering students from 12 JU departments boycotted the first-semester exams, which started on Monday. However, only one student from the department of instrumental engineering appeared for the exam. Students from the first-year journalism department attended the first-semester examinations, too.
Speaking to TOI, one parent of an examinee said: "After reaching the university, he told me that he would not take the exam as it was their unanimous decision. After all, he has to spend at least four years here."A student from the JU food technology department said: "Speaking to the class representative, the head of the department was informed of our decision of a pen-down protest." At JU, no classes were held on Monday. A student leader of the faculty of engineering and technology union said, "We did not impose anything on the students. General students decided to take part in the protest."
At Presidency, just a few students attended classes for three special papers only. Registrar Debojyoti Konar, said: "The university is open, and offices are functioning smoothly. There was no examination scheduled today." Calcutta University, which had PG exams on Monday, saw a normal turnout. Most other CU colleges, including Lady Brabourne, Asutosh, Maulana Azad and Scottish Church, also saw normal attendance. CU registrar, Debasis Das, said, "There was more than 80% attendance." Asutosh College principal Manas Kabi said: "We are the exam centre, and it was held smoothly."