Scottish Church College closed till further notice

Kolkata: In a late night development the authorities of Scotish Church College decided to shut it down indefinitely following continuous students unrest.

The decision was taken after the students allegedly entered into an administrative meeting demanding to reinstate Amit Abraham who resigned a month back, as their principal.

“The agitation started at 3.30 pm and it continued till 9.30. It was from a handful of 15-20 students from the college union and they started banging my door when the building committee meeting was going on. A jubilee building is coming up inside the campus using the funds of UGC. Managing rector and Secretary John Abraham who is also a member of the building committee was present in the meeting. The students started giving slogans – Go back Rector,” teacher in-charge, Arpita Mukherji said.

According to the insiders of the college the students want Amit Abraham to come back as their principal.

Amit resigned a month back and Mukherji was made the teacher-in-charge. Former principal John Abraham was reinstated as managing rector.

“The appointment of John was not liked by the students union allegedly because John allowed excess admission this year,” a member of the students’ union said.

However at around 3:30 pm the students barged inside the chamber of Mukherji and sat on a dharna, reported the Times of India.

“The meeting was going on and all of us including John Abraham got stuck. Even the teachers who came to our rescue were not allowed to leave. This is a college with and we have our own rules. We cannot give in to the unjust demands of the students. What happened in the college is unprecedented,” Mukherji said.

“I was call up the education minister Partha Chatterjee and informed him everything. He asked me not to close the college. I even called up Ashoke Biswas – the President of governing board who is in Bangalore. He advised to look till the last moment. Finally at 9.30 when the students left my room we decided to close the college till further notice . we cannt continue in this way,” Mukherji added.