Gorkha Students, JNU in Solidarity with NBU fighting for Gender Justice

9:28 PM

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sexual assault

Solidarity Statement from Gorkha Students, JNU to the students of North Bengal University (NBU) fighting for Gender Justice

We students of JNU salute and take inspiration from the historic struggle waged by students of NBU against the recent incidents (15th August, 2016) of sexual harassment in campus premises of North Bengal University. The struggle has unsettled the deep patriarchal anxiety of the administration and will definitely contribute to expansion of the spaces for women (both within and outside campus premises).

   The patriarchal unequal gender relation of society also permeates the work premises. This power relation has its own class, caste and racial manifestations. Under such hierarchical social relation the gender justice cannot be achieved if the perpetrator lies in top of power relation. Failure to deliver gender justice only strengthens the forces of patriarchy and sexual-harassers and jeopardizes the space for women to come up and lodge complaints against similar cases of violence. The administration throughout country has repeatedly used their authority to shield sexual harassers even after they have been found guilty under enquiry, particularly when the guilty is someone with influence. At the one hand laws (Prevention of Sexual Harassment in Work Place Act, 2013) which are supposed to protect and give justice also reflects the same patriarchal attitude. Hence, to look matter of sexual harassment and to sensitise campus on issue of gender, we think that independent and effective body like Gender Sensitisation Committee Against Sexual Harassment (GSCASH), as per the Supreme Court's Vishaka Judgement guidelines 13th August, 1999, should be constituted in every work place of this country and decisions of the GSCASH should be made binding upon the administration or any person with sufficient influence/power. The ongoing struggle of students in NBU can make sure that such proper institutional mechanism is instated in campus premises. Even regressive act like Prevention of Sexual Harassment in Work Place Act, 2013 makes its mandatory to do so.
 

The procession taken out by NBU students and research scholars on Friday.
 Picture by Kundan Yolmo

We believe promoting a security centric solution to the issue of crime against women (like putting the entire campus under the gaze of CCTVs) will only worsen the situation for female students and hamper their mobility within campus. The security centric approaches reflect the same protectionist patriarchal male chauvinist attitude that will perpetuate the age old unequal gender relations. Such security centric measures are very likely to be used by authority as tool of extensive surveillance and discipline and contrary to initial believe, can be used to further curtail the freedom of students. Definitely prisons are safe, but we don’t want our campus to be that.

We demand speedy trail and prompt justice to be delivered. We demand the perpetrators to be brought to justice, through an impartial investigation and speedy trial in appropriate forum of authority. We extend our solidarity to the uncompromising struggle of students of NBU on issue of sexual harassment and gender justice.

Only the unity among an oppressed can break the chain of patriarchy!  Let us all join hands together and raise voices for gender justice!

-Gorkha Students, JNU                
Issued on 20/10/2010

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Darjeeling students denied to sit for admission test for Masters Program

6:48 PM

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Sikkim University

Students from the Darjeeling Hills denied the right to sit for admission test for Masters Program at Visva Bharati and Sikkim Central University due to the delayed final results by NBU. This is why Darjeeling needs Central University of its own.
Darjeeling 16th July 2016: 56 students from the Darjeeling Hills, all affiliated to North Bengal University denied the right to sit for admission test today for Masters Program at Education Department, Visva Bharati due to the delayed final results which are yet to be declared by NBU

56 Students who had travelled all the way to Bolpur to sit for admission test today at Education Department were categorically not allowed to sit for exam today as they could not show the concerned department officials their final mark sheets for verification. According to central university protocol and rules and regulations, there is no provision for showing the final mark sheets during the time of admission test. Only after the applying candidates have cleared the test and have been selected, do they normally have to show their final mark sheets for verification. However, today these 56 students were not allowed to sit for test on the premise that the Education Department had on their prospectus as well as their admission forms clearly mentioned that final mark sheets are to to obtained prior to admission, but nowhere has it been mentioned that final mark sheets are to be shown on the DAY OF ADMISSION TEST.

North Bengal University

Few concerned officials of Visva Bharati are trying to help and console the students as they feel what was done today to these 56 student with no final mark sheets is against the rules and the spirit of the University. These students have submitted an application to the ViCe Chancellor asking him to intervene and allow them to sit for the admission test at a later date.

As of now, the aspiration and faith of these students remain in a limbo. If only one could have foreseen the unintended cost of last years election on the careers of our students, one would have been able to do all the needful lot avoid these kind of situation for the students. We have only a few days ago highlighted how the delayed results by NBU have cost some bright young minds their deserving seat in Sikkim University. Similar trend is being shown at Visa Bharati.

Sikkim Central University has given admission to second and third best choice of students this year, as they have denied the best students admission on the grounds that they don’t have their final year mark sheets.

Whether this is so by design or by default, we will let all of you decide...

Here are the facts.
Following the admission test, majority of the merit list candidates featured top ranking students from Darjeeling, but sadly they were denied admission, as their final year mark sheets were not available at the time of admission.

Having received numerous complaints, we decided to dig in and this is what we found
Explaining the situation, Sikkim University officials stated that “it is clearly mentioned in our Prospectus, if students are unable to produce their final mark sheets will not be given admission.” Given that this year, there was an election in West Bengal, unfortunately of which Darjeeling region is still a part, the final year graduation examinations got postponed by a month, so when Sikkim University demanded mark sheets by June 30th, 2016 all the students from Gorkhaland Territorial Administration who are forced to study under NBU, were unable to produce the same.

Traditionally, since the formation of Sikkim University, they allowed students to submit their mark sheets by the end of October, “but that system created a lot of problem... many students didn’t submit their mark sheets in October and pleaded with us to give them extensions, which we did, given they were pleading” says Vice Chancellor TB Subba. He added, “many of these students did not clear their Bachelors for long, and some of them have both Bachelors and Masters degree issued in the same year... so we decided we cannot allow this to continue.”

What happened in the past, as far as we can tell, is that Sikkim University officials did not do their duty proper, and allowed those who did not produce their Mark Sheet past October of the given year to continue. However, they didn’t seem to have any compunction on the failure of the University to keep a check on students who did not produce their Mark Sheets in the past, and instead decided to punish those who would apply this year.

When we called the SU VC Mr. Subba and asked him about chances of giving the meritorious students provisional admission till their results were declared, he said, “we have made this law and we cannot change it mid-way... we cannot change the law to accommodate students from NBU... they have had to apply within the given dates.”

But that is where SU hypocrisy gets highlighted, despite the fact that they had set June 30th as the last date for the students to show their final mark sheets, they extended the deadline to July 5th . Why so? Because Sikkim University themselves did not publish many of the results till July 3rd.

So while Sikkim University conveniently allowed provision for their own students to apply past the original deadline, they prevented students who had appeared for final examinations through NBU, from seeking admission, showing their lack of mark sheets as an excuse.

A SU Professor who was part of the admission committee earlier said, “I am no more part of the admissions committee, so I was unaware of the decisions they had taken, we had earlier allowed till Oct 30th for students to submit their mark sheets, which the new committee removed without informing anyone, including the faculty... it is about fairness, how can they arbitrarily extend dates to accommodate SU students, while leaving the students from NBU to suffer? This is not only unfair, but also reeks of a systematic provision to deny students from Darjeeling admissions here at SU.”
When we asked SU VC Mr. TB Subba on why provisional admission was not granted, he said, “a law professor drew our attention to that fact it would be illegal to give admission to students who haven’t finished their Bachelors exam to continue onto their Masters.”
So we decided to dig in and this is what we found.

All the ICSE schools in Darjeeling allow for Sikkim students to gain admission after their class 10 exams are over, and months before their results are declared it is not deemed illegal. Numerous Universities across India, including Premier - Indian Institute of Management's allow for students to join their courses while their results are being declared.

We are not sure why Sikkim University decided to prevent students from Darjeeling to join, however what happened is grossly unfair and we hope that the SU authorities allow for admission of meritorious students from across India provisonally, if necessary, instead of selectively preventing Darjeeling students to join in, due to arbitrary rules that specifically deny admission to our students.

Via TheDC

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NBU Students Organize Silent Rally in Support of Gorkha Girl Raped and Murdered in ‪‎Assam‬

7:43 AM

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North Bengal University

North Bengal University Students Organize Silent Rally in Support of Gorkha Girl, Champa Chetri, Raped and Murdered in ‪‎Assam‬

Students from North Bengal University together with P.H.D candidates yesterday organised a silent rally condemning the heinous act of rape and murder that has recently enraged the whole of North East and North Bengal.

CC the victim was brutally raped and then murdered in the Tinsukia District of Assam. The body being found in the nearby river after three days of missing, the family members and the locals rushed to the nearest police station, but their F.I.R was not accepted owing to it as a suicide rather than an act of murder . Until today the authorities are in a state of denial.

N.B.U students taking such a fragile social issue in hand discussed about the cause and reason behind such act and its possible remedy to overcome such situation in future. Prashant Rai, Mingma Doma Bhutia and Navneet Subba addressed the gathering, and Manoj Ghising and his colleagues actively participated in managing the event.

NBU Students Organize Silent Rally in Support of Gorkha Girl Raped and Murdered in ‪‎Assam‬

Students have also come up with a resolution of sending a mass petition (letters) to P.M.O ( Prime Minister's Office) and that of the Governor of Assam regarding the issue and to extend their sympathy and solidarity with the family and relatives of the deceased.
N.B.U students have also requested our readers to kindly put up an open letter to P.M.O and respective authorities to conduct a high level inquiry into the matter as soon as possible, such that the act of this gravity doesn't happen again in future.


Via TheDC

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NBU Exams postponed due to Assembly elections 2016

11:23 AM

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Siliguri

Siliguri, March 11: The North Bengal University (NBU) today postponed Part I, II and III examinations of BA, BSc and BCom honours and general streams from April 4 to May 25 as the previous dates clashed with the Assembly elections.

Sushanta Das, the controller of examinations at the NBU, said Part I, II and III papers of the BA, BSc, BCom (honours) and Part III papers of general courses would start from May 25 and end on June 9.

"After these exams are over, BA, BSc and BCom papers of Part I and Part II general courses will begin from June 13 and end on July 19," he said here.

Das said the decision had been taken after the district administrations of Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri had requisitioned colleges under the varsity for election purposes.

"We have received letters from the authorities of Siliguri College and Parimal Mitra College in Malbazar, saying the respective district administrations had requisitioned the colleges for the Assembly elections on different days in March, April and May, that is till the completion of the election process. We have got to know that colleges in other districts, too, may be requisitioned for the purpose. Under these circumstances, we had to postpone the undergraduate examinations of the colleges affiliated to the NBU from April 4 to May 25," Das said.

North Bengal University (NBU)

The controller of examinations said around two lakh students would be appearing for the undergraduate exams under the NBU.

"We will have around two lakh students appearing for the examinations in different colleges under the NBU this year. The new exam schedule will be dispatched to the colleges on Monday so that the authorities can inform their students," Das said.


Telegraph

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Central University in Darjeeling - a Necessity

11:53 AM

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West Bengal

Writes: Bicky Sharma

As the hill youths we quickly realize that we are facing deliberate instances of discrimination and suppression, we also realize that we continue to be victimised and exploited to every single degree. We hold forth in the hopes of a state of our own, a panacea to all our problems, we see statehood as the ultimate solution to every problem. Though I agree that the statehood demand is our ultimate goal and we must throw every bit of effort for it, but what we forget are the different dimensions of our backwardness and the things that we can and we must attempt to change, with or without the statehood.

Student protest rally in Darjeeling, from 2011

If we pen down all those dimensions, Education comes to the top of the list of things that we need to change. The most unfortunate thing that I feel today is that we lack a University for our Hills, without which an educated society is impossible to derive.

Why do we need an “educated society” to begin with? It’s easy to reckon, because once we have an educated generation blooming up, we have a better society and with a better society we can finally meet up to all our needs. As Nelson Mandela had quoted "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."

But then things are quite different here. The wings of our youths are clipped off usually after graduations just because we don’t have a university of our own.

I do realise we have excellent students among us and they do secure admissions in good colleges and universities outside Darjeeling, and even Bengal. They obviously are our pride and social backbone. But let us not forget the remaining portion of our youths, those who may not score 1st class 1st in their colleges, in fact majority of the youths are made up of this group of people.

When we first enter college, it is a whole new different world for us and we are on the verge of learning many new things and all this happens with trial and error. We make mistakes, learn, set up our foundation of knowledge for life and we are yet to think about life seriously. By the time we start gaining seriousness; we often have completed our graduations and stand with a degree having good, average and below average marks. And hence begin our quest for admissions. That is true for most of us. We explore different universities for further studies and try to get a spot for ourselves. After A handful get absorbed by these universities, the remaining look upon at NBU as a final ray of hope, the saviour. But then hundreds of colleges under NBU and a limited number of seats. It’s not NBU's fault either, a single river cannot quench thirst above its limit.

Now the ones strained out by NBU stand with gloomy eyes and a sour heart. The passion is there, the hunger is there. But there is no Opportunity.

Think about someone who scored 59% in Physics and did not get admission in M Sc in NBU, but got admission in Kalyani University and yet couldn’t go, as his single mother who works in a tea garden could not afford to pay his fees and study expenses, when she has to look after his two siblings and earns only Rs 95 per day.

That is enough to realise how deprived we are just because we don’t have a University of our own. I know the merits of having a university are profound and what I am listing may be one of the least important ones, however this is something that all of us have had to face – us those who are from the margins.

Many good students from our own hills let go of their opportunity to study as going away to a different place to study goes beyond our financial boundaries. The fire that just started burning dies a slow death. Even those who manage to get enrolled to universities in other places go through many hardships to complete their education outside home.

Students with good marks fail to make space in between and end up losing their hopes and aspirations.

I request all of you to join hands to demand the formation of Darjeeling Central University – which will lay the foundation of a resurgent society. The whole idea is to prevent the pen in the hands to be replaced by drugs and booze. The whole idea is of giving our own youths a space to study. The whole idea is to replace the frustrations by happiness.

The whole idea is of having our own Central University at our own home, so that no individual who wants to pursue higher education is left at the mercy of one university [NBU] which caters to seven districts in North Bengal

Source: TheDC

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Gunjan Rana, kidnapped Youth Leader from Kurseong Released

9:29 AM

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Trinamool Congress

Gunjan Rana from Kurseong who had been allegedly abducted by Trinamool Congress goons late last night in Siliguri has been released.

Gunjan Rana Safely Returns to NBU Campus

Gunjan alleged that he had forcefully kept in illegal custody to coerce and threaten him to withdraw his nomination filed as as a candidate from Independent Students' Consolidation in the coming (9th Jan) Students Union elections in the University.

He further said that they were forced to release him today evening under pressure from the resistance by the students and progressive sections in the area. After his release, Gunjan joined the other comrades in the protest and hunger strike in the University against this reign of terror by the ruling establishment.

Source: DC

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Youth Leader From Kurseong, Allegedly Kidnapped by TMC Cadres from NBU

8:07 AM

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Trinamool Congress

The North Bengal University Rural Development Department student Gunjan Rana was allegedly kidnapped following which the Independent Student Consolidation members had lodged FIR at Matigara police station.

Gunjan Rana Youth Leader From Kurseong, Allegedly Kidnapped by TMC Cadres from NBU

Members of the Independent Student Consolidation on Friday sat in ‘Dharna’ demanding the immediate inquiry of the kidnapping case.

“TMCP leaders and the supporters visit the hostel everyday and threaten the student for bloodshed if we do not support their party in the election. After this, students are insecure,” Independent Student Consolidation leader Thendup Lama said.

Relating to the event we got this message from one of our reader, Robina Rai and we are producing it as it is...

"Gunjan Rana, student of University of North Bengal was abducted yesterday night by Trinamool Congress goons.

He is presumably being threatened to withdraw his nomination that he filed as a candidate from Independent Students' Consolidation. The Students Union election over there is on 9th of this month.

Gunjan is an enthusiastic activist of Krantikari Naujawan Sabha (KNS), raising his voice hand in hand with fellow comrades and all other progressive voices in the society, a regular article writer and activist of Laali Guraas, the Nepali magazine dedicated to the cause of 'Naya Jeewan, Naya Sangharsh, Naya Samaj', a street theatre activist of Street Play Group 'Drishyasamuha' that went on performing several times in the tea gardens of Darjeeling Hills-Terai-Dooars supporting the ongoing Tea Workers' movement for the implementation of Minimum Wage in tea gardens.

Gunjan, is a passionate photographer and video activist too, who worked tirelessly for the documentary film Chaay Garam, which was made to support the cause of the tea workers.

It is quiet natural that he and other like minded students in the campus would hold high the banner of 'Independent Students' Movement' and go ahead with other progressive organisations and individuals to form some independent students' consolidation, ‪#‎Hokkolorob‬ was something that enhanced the aspiration.

However, this incident again proved that ruling parties, whatever be the colour, know the language of muscle power only. Shame with the mockery of 'Democracy'. Uphold the banner of relentless struggle.

Raise your voice against this heinous, cowardly act of the ruling party and stand in solidarity with the causes of independent students voice, struggle of the toiling masses, oppressed identities and progressive cultural activists thriving for social change."

We hope that Gunjan is safe, and request the authorities to look into this allegation immediately.

Source: DC

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NBU to start new courses on food technology and pharmaceutical technology

8:37 AM

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technology news

North Bengal University (NBU) has decided to start two new courses, food technology and pharmaceutical technology, at the post-graduate level from the 2014-2015 academic session that is set to begin from August-end, varsity authorities said today.

North Bengal University (NBU)

Somnath Ghosh, the NBU vice-chancellor, said the two courses were the first to be offered by the varsity in the technology stream.

The NBU had got permission from the UGC in 2011 to start the two courses. Subsequently, a committee was set up to oversee the launch of the two-year degree courses.

Ghosh said the decision to start the two courses was taken at a meeting of the committee on June 27.

A.P. Das, the former chairman of the committee, said around 10 to 15 students would be admitted to each of the two courses. “The syllabus has been formulated. The UGC has also sanctioned three teaching posts for each of the two courses,” he said.

Source: Telegraph

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