Days after a bust of Syama Prasad Mookerjee was defaced in Kolkata, the name of Jan Sangh founder, engraved on a marble wall of the Presidency University here, was found sprinkled with black ink today.
Days after a bust of Syama Prasad Mookerjee was defaced in Kolkata, the name of Jan Sangh founder, engraved on a marble wall of the Presidency University here, was found sprinkled with black ink today.
Names of some luminaries and former alumni of Presidency College, now a university, were engraved on a plaque on the ground floor of the premier institute as part of its bicentenary celebration.
Mookerjee had graduated from the college in 1922.
On Monday morning, it was discovered that among all the names that the plaque bore, Mookerjee’s name had been inked out. Black paint had been sprayed on it.
The Vice Chancellor of the university, Anuradha Lohia, who was out of town, condemned the act strongly.
“I am very upset. I cannot believe one of my students has done it. It is not acceptable in a civilised society. Strict action will be taken against offenders,” she said.
Lohia said that she had talked to security personnel and that until Sunday night nothing of that sort had happened. “Looks like it happened this morning,” she said.
A five-member investigating committee has been formed by the university to look into the matter.
“We will scan CCTV footages and whatever our findings of the investigation will be, we will share it with the police,” said university registrar Debajyoti Konar.
He said that police have started an investigation and University authorities would help them in every way possible.
BJP state president Dilip Ghosh has reacted sharply to the incident. “We strongly condemn it. We demand that the university should immediately restore it or else we will hit the streets in protest against it,” he said.
The SFI, the CPI-M's students wing, condemned the incident and said in a statement that such acts went against the tradition of the institution.
A bust of Mookerjee was found defiled at Keoratala crematorium in the city on March 7. Seven people belonging to a left-wing group were arrested in connection with the incident.
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 "Plaque bearing Syama Prasad Mookerjee’s name vandalised")
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