The event started on a sour note when Geetasri Sarker, adjudged best UG student, refused to accept a gold medal from chancellor and Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi. She said she would not receive the medal as the V-C, whose removal they had been demanding, was present on dais.
“I wanted to tell the chancellor why we have been agitating but he asked me: ‘Will you take it’. When I said no, he told me ‘you get out’’’, Geetashri, a student of Bengali, said.
While Geetasri did not accept her medal, over 100 students wearing ceremonial robes and black badges either did not enter the convocation venue or left the dais without receiving their degrees. Over 250 teachers from Jadavpur University Teachers’ Association boycotted the ceremony. “This V-C, who was also accused of plagiarism, must go,’’ said JUTA spokesperson Neelanjana Gupta.
A contingent of 100 policemen was deployed on the venue to prevent untoward incident.
