Teachers up in arms over 'assault' on prof

To protest alleged manhandling by VCs men

Angry over the alleged manhandling of a Shri Ram College of Commerce professor recently, sections of  Delhi University teachers and students will hold a protest on Tuesday. They want the DU vice chancellor to resign over the incident which took place when he was delivering the inaugural address at the Transformational Leadership Conference at the college on Saturday.

“I stood up before the VC started his address and had politely and barely uttered ‘may I take a minute’, when bouncers accompanying the VC rushed towards me, and from the centre of the auditorium kept violently pushing me even though I offered no resistance,” associate Commerce professor Sanjaya Kumar Bohidar said. “This went on till they made sure that I was out of the auditorium.”

“I was not raising slogans. My voice was soft and polite and I was only seeking permission,” the professor added. Conference organisers however called the professor's action a planned attempt to disrupt the address.

Conference co-convener R K Singh said in a statement that Bohidor was taken out of the hall by college teachers, and not security staff. When the VC stood to deliver his inaugural address, Bohidar – sitting in the front row – had got up and “raised his hand in the air as if about to shout” a slogan, Singh said.

He said the professor had been consistently talking for the last few days about disrupting the conference. Two security men stood at the gate to make sure that Bohidar did not enter, according to teachers present at the conference.

“It is known that Bohidar has dissented time and again on the changes of the graduation structure taking place . However, such a behaviour coming from the University head shows the general decline of debating, listening to views and counter views in an academic environment. It seems anyone who does not agree with you will be targeted,” said a Ramjas College professor.

Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) has also expressed solidarity with the professor. “Bohidar has been an academic council member. The VC knew him very well. Something like this is happening to us for the first time when all kinds of methods are being used to curb dissent,” said Abha Dev Habib, Physics faculty member at Miranda House.