West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose was shown black flags by the members of Trinamool Chhatra Parishad (TMCP), the student wing of ruling Trinamool Congress, at the University of Calcutta here on Thursday.
As soon as the Governor arrived at the university's main campus to distribute certificates to the new PhD holders, the TMCP members, besides waving black flags, shouted "go-back" slogans.
The TMCP members alleged the Governor, who is also the chancellor of the University of Calcutta, has "illegally" appointed a vice-chancellor to the varsity.
They also alleged that since the vice-chancellor appointed by the Governor is an acting vice-chancellor, the university's annual convocation cannot be organised without a permanent vice-chancellor.
The TMCP activists alleged that the Governor was indirectly organising a "camouflaged" convocation ceremony in the name of the distribution of PhD certificates, which was against the varsity's tradition.
The protesters also alleged that barring some professors, who are extremely close confidants of the Governor-appointed acting vice-chancellor Santa Dutta, others were not allowed entry to that certificate distribution venue.
Later, Dutta claimed that none of the protesters were university students.
"The protesters were there to vitiate the academic ambience on the university campus. But they will not be successful in their attempts to malign the image of the iconic university," she said.
The issue of vice-chancellors' appointments for different state universities in West Bengal had been a long-contentious issue between the Raj Bhavan and the state Education Department.
Several times in the past, the state government and the ruling dispensation accused the Governor of appointing interim vice-chancellors for different state universities completely bypassing the state Education Department.
On the other hand, there had been claims from the office of the Governor that the appointment of interim vice-chancellors was necessary to restore the proper academic atmosphere at the state universities.
