Kolkata: An international relations UG 2 student at Jadavpur University on Thursday lodged a complaint with the university authorities against an associate professor, alleging he made hateful comments about the Constitution and told her to “tear apart the Constitution and throw it into the water”.JU vice-chancellor Chiranjib Bhattacharjee acknowledged receiving the letter. “I have asked the head of the IR department to submit a report to me after carrying out an inquiry at the department level,” Bhattacharjee said. In her complaint letter, the student said that she messaged associate professor Arup Bhattacharya on Thursday, asking for preparation suggestions for the paper, ‘Indian Constitution’, ahead of the end-semester exam. She alleged that the professor did not take a single class and asked them to “mug up” the Constitution. “He called me back within a few minutes of texting and asked me what exactly I wanted to know. I told him what the whole class was tense about, and that we needed some topic suggestions. He said, ‘Tear apart the Constitution and throw it into the water. Who studies that Constitution these days? You’re all IR students, and they have included the Constitution in your syllabus. I saw last year’s question paper, and they set questions on Ambedkar’s debate on the Preamble. What’s the use of studying Ambedkar and his constitutional debates? These do not work these days, but who will listen to me!'” read the complaint letter of the student.TOI tried to contact Bhattacharya but he did not respond. The student said, “The professor not only attacked the Constitution and Ambedkar but also spread hatred against them. The matter should be treated seriously.”tnnSome students in the department claimed there had been grievances against Bhattacharya for not taking regular classes. “In our first semester, he changed the curriculum. We were supposed to study ‘Indian political thought,’ but he taught us ‘Indian knowledge system’ with a focus on the Vedas,” a student said.
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