We are a
group of students who were raped, sexually harassed and abused by
professors and later cornered for speaking out in SRFTI. We fought a
long battle with the administration to dismiss the guilty professors
from service. We won the battle when the Internal Complaints Committee
for Sexual Harassment (ICCSH) found the accused professors guilty. But
during the fight and after that we were humiliated and ostracized by
students and faculty alike. It is no secret that the professors, the
then Director Mr. Sanjaya Pattanayak, the then Chairperson Mr. Partha
Ghosh were against the verdict and refused to take any action till the
last minute. This fact can be verified. Partha Ghosh had refused to sign
the order asking the professors to take compulsory retirement. We are
writing this letter to bring to your attention to the lobbying and nexus
formation in SRFTI which we think are going to directly affect us
complainants.
The professors who were sent on
compulsory retirement had approached the court. All of us complainant
girls are party to the case since we do not trust the institute who
never supported us. We know for a fact that the lawyer for the institute
is not performing well. There is absolute lack of interest from the
institute's part and we feel it is deliberate keeping in mind the
history of complicity the institute's highest officials like the
Chairperson Mr Partha Ghosh had, in the matter of sexual harassment by
professors. Tomorrow, if the court asks for some documents which are
readily available in the institute, the lawyer could refrain from
providing them. For these people with power, denying us women our
justice has become a hobby.
The girl who had
complained of rape by a professor was harassed brutally by the then
Chairperson, Partha Ghosh. She had written to the ministry regarding
this matter. In a completely irregular manner, Partha Ghosh himself
wrote back to the girl admitting to the gravely improper lecture he had
administered her but at the same time claiming that the girl had
'misunderstood' him. We are attaching the copy of the same. [Kindly
safeguard the identities of all female students involved in this since
sexual harassment is still a matter of shame in our society]. Till this
day no enquiry has been initiated on this matter. The girl went on a
hunger strike demanding his resignation but was served no justice. Two
officers who were taking strict measures against sexual harassment as
well as corruption in SRFTI were forced to resign by the nexus we
mentioned. They were Mr Anindya Acharya [ex-registrar] and Debjanjan
Chakrabartty [ex-Director]. It was a matter of public knowledge that
they were forced to leave SRFTI because they were unearthing many a
scams involving professors and Partha Ghosh.
The duo say the institute's work culture is not conducive to do what's
needed to address allegations against a certain group operating on
campus. Many felt that the sexual harassment cases have exposed serious
issues plaguing the institute for years.
In the past few months, sources say, Chakrabarti and Acharya
haven't often been on the same page as SRFTI chairman Partha Ghose. One
bone of contention was Chakrabarti's reaction to a CAG report. "The CAG
sent a report in 2011-2012, pointing out arbitrary payment upgrades
without following government rules. However, no action was taken," said
Chakrabarti.
[This is from a newspaper report on the matter
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/Two-exits-at-SRFTI-no-end-to-mystery/articleshow/52594170.cms]
Partha
Ghosh's son holds an illegal position in the institute's equipment
acquiring board and this was pointed out several times by administrators
as well as CAG. Partha Ghosh had called for a faculty meeting in which
it was asked that a letter be signed saying that the girl who complained
against rape was mentally unfit and was bringing disrepute to the
institute by talking about it in public. We know this because the only
professor who refused to sign that document, Late Mr Biren Das Sharma
let us know the injustice that Partha Ghosh was doing to us
complainants. Now, after one year of relentless fighting against
harassment, we have a new Director who has been selected by a panel in
which this misogynist was present. We are scared and worried.
When
the interviews for the Director's position was going on, Sanjaya
Pattanayak had called one of the candidates [out of the three] and had
told him that he could start looking for other jobs because it had been
finalized that the only woman candidate would be made Director. Isn't
this irregular? How is it that a person knew what the selection would be
way before it was finalized? The interview board had Partha Ghosh in it
and like how Mr Pattanayak had predicted, the only woman candidate, Dr
Debamitra Mitra was made the Director. However, while this selection
process had happened many months earlier, it was only recently, that is,
one week ago, that she took charge. We have been told that this comes
as a boon to the sexual harassment complainants because she is a woman.
Is it so sir?
A woman who was selected by Partha Ghosh who
believes 'taali ek haath se nai bajti hai', and that 'We will not wash
SRFTI's dirty linen (sexual harassment) in public'. A woman who was
selected even before the results of the interview was out. A woman who
was present when one of the complainants was spoken to in the most
disrespectful manner by Secretary, I&B, Mr Ajay Mittal. [No enquiry
has been initiated on this matter yet]. Two days ago, one of us was
harassed by a security guard in the institute. Since we were told that
the new Director being a woman works in our favour, the girl went to her
to inform her about the matter. The Director told the girl, 'Come to me
only after approaching the Dean and the Registrar first'. Is this the
response that a woman gives a girl who has just been harassed? If this
is the level of sensitivity that the Director is administering, we can
imagine what her stance would be regarding the case in Kolkata High
Court. We are highly apprehensive about it in the context of this
appointment and we have nowhere else to go.
We hope that
your intervention can change things in SRFTI and we hope for the same.
If the institute so wishes, the court case can be fought with
seriousness. The Director can be briefed and sensitized about the way in
which to deal with sexual harassment complaints and complainants. Every
day of justice denied to us is a setback for any place of learning.
Kindly look into the matter and allow us women to make films and
complete our courses.
Thanks,
a few victims and survivors.
Kolkata,
5th February, 2017
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