KOLKATA: The authorities of Scotish Church College on Wednesday night decided to shut down the institute indefinitely following student unrest.
The decision was taken after some students allegedly barged into an administrative meeting, demanding reinstatement of Amit Abraham, who resigned from principal's post a month ago.
“The agitation started around 3.30pm on Wednesday and continued till 9.30pm. The group comprised 15-20 students from the college union and they started banging on my door, when the building committee meeting was going on. A new building is coming up on the campus, being built with UGC funds. Managing rector and secretary
John Abraham, who is also a member of the building committee, was present at the meeting. The students started giving slogans, `Go back Rector',“ teacher in-charge,
Arpita Mukherji
said.
According to insiders, the students want Amit to return as the principal. Amit resigned a month ago and Mukherji was made the teacher-in-charge. Former principal John Abraham was reinstated as the managing rector. “John's appointment was not liked by the union,“ a union member said.
Around 7.30pm, the students barged into Mukherji's room.“The meeting was going on and all of us, including John, got stuck. Even the teachers who came to rescue us were not allowed to leave. This is a college and we have our own rules. We can't give in to the unjust demands of students,“ Mukherji said. “I called up education minister Partha Chatterjee and he told me to close the college. I called up Ashoke Biswas, president of governing board, who advised to wait till the last moment. At 9.30pm, when the students left, we decided to shut the college till further notice.“