I will request everyone to support us. Please share this and let everyone know about the actions taken against us, students of Jalpaiguri Government Engineering College (JGEC) due to the strike that was held on March 16 against one of our teachers, for the physical assault committed on us.
On March 15, some words were exchanged between the first years and second years. The second years and first years were solving this issue within themselves. In the meantime, the authorities interfered and wanted to take over the matter completely. The matter has been solved between us, but the authorities threatened to take action against us.
In the meantime, one of our teachers, Dr Dipak Kumar Kole, interfered despite him not being a superintendent of any of the hostels. He thrashed one of our batchmates and abused him with foul language, and pushed another batchmate, who fell on glass and needed stitches in his hand.
He called one of the guardians and presented himself as the “Principal” of the college. He threatened the guardian that his son would be sent to jail and would not be allowed to complete his engineering degree. The guardian is a heart patient and had high blood pressure after hearing all the false allegations.
He threatened all of us with backlogs in the upcoming semester examinations by noting down our names. This has been going for many days now. We are being mentally harassed and physically assaulted by him during class hours.
The whole college held a strike on March 16, demanding legal action against the guilty. We demanded a talk between the teachers and us in the auditorium in presence of all the students and teachers. But all our requests were denied. Right from 9 AM to 3 AM the next morning, no one ate anything and were sitting in front of the college gate demanding justice.
Police and RAF entered the campus around 5 PM in the evening despite us being on a non-violent strike. The police had a talk with the teacher first, without even knowing our side. After knowing his side, the police came to us and had a talk with us and asked us to write a letter, to be forwarded only on Tuesday. We demanded immediate action against him, since none of us was willing to attend his classes anymore. In the meantime, the teacher left the college without any prior notice to the authorities, nor to the police (as has been verified in writing by the IPS present on duty).
The police left the principal in the college with two policemen guarding his cabin, and went away at 1 AM on the morning of March 17. We were assured that Dr Kole would be brought back to campus.
The allegations that have been made against him are:
1. Physical assault on students.
2. Using foul language.
3. Checking the mobile galleries and WhatsApp of women students without permission.
4. Giving backlogs to students who had personal issues with him.
5. Interfering in a student’s personal life and harassing him.
6. Rusticating a student from the hostel within a span of an hour without any probe, with the student later being found to be innocent after the probe.
7. Thrashing a student in front of the class for not bringing a project in spiral binding.
8. Giving students backlogs for commenting on and liking a status on social media.
9. Threatening guardians on a regular basis.
We, the students of JGEC, request everyone to stand with us and help us in our protest till Dr Kole is ousted. We are only demanding an investigation and a transfer against him, and till then, his suspension from the college. We, the students of JGEC, cannot attend his classes due to the fear that he has instilled in us.
The college authorities have closed the mess and are not providing us with any food, either.
We demand justice.
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