Occassional agitations..

Just barely two weeks left for closing the semester and every one students as well as professors are on rush to wrap up all academic works expeditiously within reasonable time from exam so that students get time for preparation which we normally get hardly half- week time .All professors wanted to wrap up their work as far as possible speedily, even first from other professors if possible which is almost sounds like vying among professors but if they are running short of time who would not do it? Everybody would prefer to clean their head first. One of our senior professors must have been trying to clean her head first. Yesterday in second years’ class she was taking all five classes for presentations which according to her for other professors’ classes she already informed them and consented also.
However, one of the professors might have consent her unwillingly and furiously. Despite he consented I think when it was time for his class still he might have gone to the class and waited outside only to aggravate his frustration when he saw there was no sign of moving her out from the class rather she went on continuing the class. So, the aggrieved professor seemed to have complained to Vice Chancellor as in the midst of taking presentations VC with aggrieved professor directly walked in to the class and angrily yelled at her, get out of the class. She being one of senior and eminent professors in the university did not want to stoop; she wanted to exercise his seniority and eminence. On other hand VC being head of the University wanted to exercise his power, so there was hot conversation going on for some time. She left the class for aggrieved professor. As a result class seemed not moved by VC’s act, So they all came out of the class and shouted on top of their voice, boycott..boycott….
Meanwhile other classes heard it and joined the agitation against VC. As VC tried to make out the way to his chamber through the crowd, the students were trying to surround him from all directions. Some went on shouting, boycott,,,boycott, while some went on shouting Maro..Maro…I did not see it I was in the class but latter I was told that some were throwing slippers, chalks and water bottles. It was worst of all agitations I have seen in our University since I joined here.
When most of the students were looking for reasons to escape from sitting in class in the sweltering heat, all of a sudden this rightly served them the reason for bunking the class. After some time almost all students joined for agitation outside VC’s chamber. They wanted VC to apologies her for being too harsh. So they shouted, apology..apology. Yes he came out of his chamber and agreed to apologies to her but he wanted to talk with her in his chamber but students wanted outside right in front of them. After much agitation finally I was told that he apologized to her right in front of all students.
In India protest is weapon for everything which is actually their constitutional right. This right flows from their constitutional itself. If they have lawful ground they can protest. How far it is good weapon is debatable issue. In our constitution also there is provision but we don’t know how far we Bhutanese people prefer to exercise even if need arises or any other situation necessitates.
For the first time ever I saw agitation live with my own eyes right in front of me in 2009 around this time but it was just simple one. Yesterday’s was really capable of dubbing as real agitation. Being very first time that too happened on very interesting issue which was actually a topic capable to interests me to scribble on it as means for my time pass, So I was moved to record it. I recorded right away as under.
(3rd March,Tue, 2009)
“K. K sir is accused of sexually harassing one of the fourth year girls”, all of a sudden my friend muttered while we were hastening to mess for lunch after class. “Oops!!!!When? Who told you?” I enquired as I was utterly taken aback, “I don’t know they were chatting like that”, my friend reciprocated. Then I refrained from further enquiry as he himself was aware of simply tail of the information. I dumped such rumors at very embryonic stage without tracing the truth further either from other guys or seniors.
A month long was elapsed without knowing anything about the issue but almost after couple of months when I was casually running through notice coincidently found the notice regarding the issue which I actually thought was merely rumours. There it was written what my friend had told to me a couple of months back. The notice in nutshell reads, ‘one of faculty has sexually harassed one of the fourth year girls and for the same complaint is lodged to VC, for which he is given 10 days to take the action’. Only after affected in black and white I believed and thought it must have been happened candidly to that girl. Though SBC has given 10 days to take the action against him as they have already proved beyond reasonable doubt that the said faculty had sexually harassed her but then there complaint was no effect at all even after 10 days.
I did not bother to remember whether 10 days had elapsed since the lodged of the complaint, despite knowing that SBC has given 10 days for the same. But the particular faculty who was accused of the same, when in the midst of his class was going on in our class, group of 4th years barged into the class and without any rationale behind directly uttered, ‘get up’ and only after that some explained the rationale behind asking to get up. But the reason was to protest against administration for failing to initiate the action against the guilty lecturer but who would stoop to cooperative them when the same teacher’s class was going on and in front of him how can we directly protest against him he being a teacher after all and nothing was done to us in person though done to that girl. Majority in our class stayed back for his class while for some they simply got up and walk out of the class for the same. When some still stayed back then they went on abusing, ‘what the mother fuckers’ and even abused the teacher. When our mates asked the rationale behind protest then they simply said ask to your teacher he is right in front of you all, How disgraceful it was to him when they abused like that despite they being taught by the same teacher before.
Luckily when they barged into the class it was almost time for ending second period. When some left for the protest still he took the class about 5 minutes for those who were still back in the class and after that he went away as it was almost time to end second period. After he left then there was lots of yelling and some explained reason for protest while for some they apologized for abusing and these went on about 20 minutes and some even reached to the stage of exchanging blows but luckily did not happen as there were many people who stopped the same. Though there was protest in front of Vice chancellors office but no affect at all and owing to this all decided to boycott the classes until the Vice Chancellar takes action for the same and all boycotted the classes since the end of second period.
The protest in other universities is common and not new thing being a democratic country but unlike other universities our university is totally different which is the top and prestigious law university in India and never happened such protest since its establishment in 1998 until today but this is the first time to be stored as an history for university not as an history to be proud of but as a disgraceful history. Though being premiere university no one would have ever expected such protest to happen but many students justified that administration was not accountable for the students’ decisions and problems, not even once but many times and therefore they were forced to used necessary available weapon.
Who would want such a teacher no matter how fabulously he is committed to his profession if his behavior is unacceptable to society. The very next day after the protest the guilty teacher himself tendered the resignation letter to the administration, which otherwise students would not have left the administration peacefully in any case until some sort of action was taken against the same.