Security tightened in Visva-Bharati as students clash over mode of exams

Two groups clashed, with students getting into fisticuffs and cases of vandalism being reported.

Security was beefed up in Visva-Bharati University on Thursday after students clashed over the mode of examinations, with one group demanding online evaluation and another strongly in favour of offline.

The group demanding online exams began its protest as soon as the university reopened on June 20 after a shortened summer vacation for the conduct of terminal semester exams for both undergraduate and postgraduate students, scheduled from June 21 to July 8. For two days they disrupted the exams and put locks on the gates of various departments.

They put forth several reasons for demanding exams in the online mode, which included lack of a level playing field (because several universities are conducting exams online and their students are expected to score better) and difficulties faced by some students in returning to Santiniketan because of disruption of train services due to the anti-Agnipath movement.

But on Wednesday, another group of students emerged, which broke open the locks and barged into the halls, determined to write the exams in the offline mode. The two groups clashed, with students getting into fisticuffs and cases of vandalism being reported. According to video clips circulating online, exams in some departments finally got under way around midnight and ended in the wee hours of Thursday.

Thursday morning saw the deployment of more security personnel in the university to prevent protesters from disrupting offline exams. “There is no face to the group that is demanding online exams. It is basically made up of students who haven’t studied all year and now want the easy way out. What they don’t realise is that corporate houses will give more weightage to students who earn their degrees through offline exams,” said a senior teacher, adding: “Thankfully, most students want offline exams.”

Another teacher, who is associated with the Visva-Bharati University Faculty Association, said: “Whatever happened seemed spontaneous, none of the big student groups affiliated to political parties appear to be involved. Usually, students speak in one voice, but since these are terminal semester exams, many of them are anxious about placements and therefore want the results on time. We strongly condemn the vandalism, but this was an avoidable situation. If only had the authorities held a dialogue with the students.”

The university PRO was yet to respond to a comment on how the Rabindranath Tagore-founded institution intended to deal with the situation in case it witnessed further clashes between those demanding online exams and those favouring offline.