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Students of Jadavpur University took out a protest rally at 2 p.m. today, against international relations professor Kanak Sarkar’s unrelenting sexist remarks.
The rally was taken out in the campus from the Arts Department to the administrative building.
The National Commission for Women (NCW) on Monday, January 14 had asked the West Bengal DGP to probe and take appropriate action against Kanak Sarkar for his recent misogynistic Facebook post which he deleted soon after, but as the saying goes, nothing is ever off the social media.
The “personal opinions” and views of the international relations professor are not new, as many students have complained about his sexism before as well. However, this time his comments have crossed a line, providing evidence for his misogyny.
He claimed through his “Value Oriented Social Counselling for Educated Youth” Facebook post, that “Virgin girl is like sealed bottle or sealed packet,” regressively objectifying women and rhetorically asking if people would buy an unsealed bottle. His post ends with, “To most boys, virgin wife is like angel.”
The head of department of international relations, Omprakash Mishra, said, “We can’t take any action unless a formal complaint is filed. But evidently, a 19th century attitude is irrelevant in the 21st century. A regressive, medieval attitude is always condemnable,” reported The Times of India.
The JU Students’ Union Chairperson Somashree Choudhary, who is also pursuing a paper in international relations said, “The authorities had no concrete proof earlier. But now he has crossed all limits and we feel uncomfortable in his presence. We are going to give a deputation against him to the VC and file a complaint with the ICC (Internal Complaints Committee). The students don’t want him to continue teaching and are going to make recommendations for his suspension.”
Defending himself and his “personal opinions,” Sarkar added in another Facebook post, "I have not written anything against any person, individual or anybody without any evidence or proof or any reference. I am doing social research and writing for the good and wellbeing of the society. It's everybody's right to express his/her thoughts. I have given many posts for and in favour of women.”
The students hope that the NCW ordered probe leads to the concrete action of Kanak Sarkar’s suspension.
