ABVP forces professor to resign, performs ‘purification’ ritual

"I know who is behind the attack. But I will not file a complaint. They are like my own children,” she said.

Kolkata: A Muslim professor at Kolkata’s Surendranath College was forced to resign on September 11 over an attendance issue. What followed was Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP) members performing a purification ritual.

On September 11, a group of ABVP members gheraoed the office of Mohammadi Tarannum for almost a day, drafted her resignation letter, and forced her to sign it.

After police escorted her to safety, the students lit incense sticks and sprinkled Ganga jal (water), in what they described as purification of the premises.

What was the issue?

Mohammadi Tarannum was the vice-principal and teacher-in-charge of Surendranath College. Students must have 65 per cent attendance to sit for semester examinations. A section of students did not meet that requirement. She made it clear that the attendance rule would be applied for the upcoming exams on September 28.

Speaking to The Wire, she said she was only performing her duty as a government school professor.

“I heard so much abuse, so many obscene remarks involving caste, religion and politics from students that I fell ill for two days. They abused me, mocked me and made all sorts of offensive remarks. Even after being subjected to such extreme mental torture, I have decided that I will not resign unless they kill me,” she was quoted by The Wire.

College’s stand on Muslim professor’s ‘resignation letter’ unclear

Surendranath College was founded in 1884 and named after Indian National Congress leader Surendranath Banerjee. Kaustav Bagchi, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from the Barrackpur constituency, currently heads the governing body.

According to him, multiple complaints were registered against the professor. “I have forwarded those matters to the Higher Education Department. I hope a healthy environment will now return,” he said.

So far, the Higher Education Department has not responded.

But Tarannum emailed the government from her car, stating that she had signed the letter under pressure. On September 12, she publicly repudiated the letter.

She has not registered any police complaint. “I know who is behind the attack. But I will not file a complaint. They are like my own children,” she said.

Mohammadi Tarannum has taught at the college since 2007, for almost 20 years.