Ambedkar College professor slapped by ABVP leader on campus; DUTA seeks action

A DU teacher was allegedly slapped and assaulted by DUSU joint secretary Deepika Jha and other members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) on Thursday, a group of faculty members said.

A video, purported to be of the incident, surfaced online, showing a teacher being assaulted by a group of students inside Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar College in the presence of the police.

Several Delhi University teachers condemned the incident, calling it an attack on the dignity of educators.

A professor, requesting anonymity, said that a National Students’ Union of India candidate who had won a college council election was allegedly thrashed by the members of the RSS-backed ABVP.

According to a statement by the Democratic Teachers’ Front (DTF), the teacher, Sujit Kumar, who is the convenor of the college’s disciplinary committee, was looking into similar incidents of campus violence involving students from different groups when he was assaulted.

Jha, in a statement, said she was in the college to address complaints of “misbehaviour and physical assault” raised by students against Kumar.

She said Kumar “threatened” and used “abusive language” against her in the principal’s room. She also accused him of reeking of alcohol.

“His repeated threats, constant staring, and indecent remarks made it quite evident that the said professor, Sujit Kumar, had once again come to the college under the influence of alcohol. In that moment of distress and anger, I reacted impulsively, for which I sincerely express regret,” Jha said.

The Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) has written to the university vice-chancellor, demanding an inquiry into the matter.

“We are deeply shocked to learn that a senior teacher at B.R. Ambedkar College has been slapped and assaulted by a group of students inside the college premises while performing his duty. The violence in any form is completely unacceptable in a democratic institution. This is an assault on the dignity of a teacher,” the association said in a letter.

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It added, “We request you to enquire into the whole incident and take immediate and exemplary action against those involved. Stringent action will send a clear message against indiscipline and lawlessness.”

Rudrashish Chakraborty, associate professor at Kirori Mal College, termed what happened at the college “shocking” but “hardly surprising.”

“It is part of a series of lumpen acts by ABVP not only in DU but across the country, enabled by the active patronage of the DU administration, which has given ABVP a free hand to run riot across the University,” he said.