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Political slogan in answer sheet may lead to disqualification, warns Bengal council
The move has triggered a controversy amid the ongoing mass protests against the August 9 rape and murder of a trainee doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital
The students writing any sort of political slogans in answer sheets may be disqualified for the entire examination, the West Bengal state higher secondary education council has said in the rules and regulations relating to the Class 12 board exams, triggering a controversy amid the ongoing mass protests against the August 9 rape and murder of a trainee doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
It said writing political slogan in an answer script will be treated as adopting unfair means or misbehaviour during an examination and may lead to disqualification. The next examination is scheduled to be held in February 2025.
The decision triggered a row with many veteran academicians describing the move as “unprecedented” and questioning the rationale behind it.
“I have never seen any school education board or university council in West Bengal issuing an order that specifically bans political slogans,” Pabitra Sarkar, former vice-chancellor of Rabindra Bharati University, said.
Chiranjib Bhattacharjee, president of the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education, told the media on Saturday that people were creating an unnecessary controversy.
“Our decision has nothing to do with the current events. Approval to the examination related regulations were given before the R G Kar Hospital incident happened,” Bhattacharjee said.
Thousands of former and current students from schools and colleges across Bengal have hit the streets alongside people from all walks of life since August 9 when the grisly crime rocked the nation.
On Sunday, for example, former students of all Ramakrishna Mission-run schools, which accounts for the maximum number of toppers in Bengal, took out a silent procession that covered a six-kilometre stretch through south Kolkata.
The body of the 31-year-old post-graduate trainee doctor, who was brutalised according to the postmortem report, was found in the seminar hall of the chest department of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. Sanjay Roy (31), a civic volunteer working for the Kolkata Police, was arrested on August 10 as the prime suspect.
The CBI started probing the crime on August 14, a day after the Calcutta high court transferred the case from the Kolkata Police to the federal agency. The court passed the order after hearing a petition filed by the victim’s parents. The CBI did not arrest anyone till Sunday afternoon.
All political parties, including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the state’s main Opposition force, have demanded the resignation of chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who is also in charge of the home and health departments.
Reacting to the higher secondary education council’s decision, Bengal BJP chief spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said: “The government wants to suppress the outrage of the student community.”
TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh said: “This is an administrative matter relating to the higher secondary education council.”
