The students alleged that the deputy commissioner (DC) of Cachar in Assam slapped and verbally abused a professor during the state government’s recruitment examination on Sunday
Assam students protest against Cachar DC for allegedly slapping professor
Hundreds of students in Assam’s Silchar on Tuesday protested against deputy commissioner (DC) of Cachar district Rohan Kumar Jha alleging that he has physically harassed a professor during the state government’s recruitment examination on Sunday..
The students of Silchar’s Cachar College claimed that the DC slapped and verbally abused the professor.
The students have asked the DC to apologise unconditionally saying that otherwise they will block the next phase of the examination scheduled on August 28 and will not allow any teacher or officials to enter inside the college campus.
“The deputy commissioner on Sunday slapped and abused a senior professor Swadesh Ranjan Das and this has been published in all leading newspapers. As students we can’t allow this and we want the DC to apologise immediately,” said general secretary of Cachar College Students’ Union (CCSU), Bidwattam Dhar Choudhury.
The principal of Cachar College, Dr. Siddhartha Sankar Nath was arrested on Sunday after deputy commissioner lodged a first information report (FIR) against him alleging negligence in duties. Nath was later released on bail.
After coming out from jail, Nath said, “We were following the instructions but suddenly police asked me to go with them at around 7.20am on Sunday. They kept me in police station till midnight and asked me to sign a bond before release. Later a professor said that he was physically and verbally abused by DC.”
Rohan Kumar Jha refused to comment on the issue. He said that the administration is preparing for conducting the next phase of the recruitment examination on August 28.
The teachers of Assam University also protested against the alleged harassment of the college professor. They wore black badges during the class on Monday and Tuesday and also condemned the alleged act of the deputy commissioner.
On Sunday, August 21, a total of 5,528 candidates were absent in 118 examination centres in Cachar district. Traffic congestions in some parts was one of the reasons according to a few candidates.
73,376 examinees from Cachar Karimganj and Hailakandi districts were scheduled to attend the examination in Cachar. Public representatives and social activists claimed that this is one of the reasons that over 5,000 students failed to appear in the examination.
Social activist Sujan Deb Roy who started a protest in Karimganj against this alleged discrimination on Tuesday said, “Students from rural parts Hailakandi and Karimganj had to travel 70 to 90 kilometre to reach the examination halls located in Cachar district. This is a huge discrimination and we want the government to change its plans.”
