Kolkata: A day after a current and a former student at Presidency University were expelled from studentship and post-studentship academic activities allegedly for defacing an ABVP poster, the PG girl said she did not write the abusive words on the banner featuring Vivekananda’s image.The girl, who has a CGPA of 9 and earned a gold medal in her UG, said she was accompanying the former student, Olivia Banerjee, who scribbled the slogans on the banner. Despite apologising to the university’s inquiry committee for what she conceded was an “irrational act” and appealing for consideration, she felt the expulsion was “disproportionate” because their act neither damaged university property nor threatened anyone’s life. Olivia recently cleared her PG exams.“We were called on Oct 30 to depose our statements before the inquiry panel. I said I did not write the abusive words on the ABVP banner. It was written by an ex-student. I was accompanying her. I tendered a written apology to the committee, saying it was an irrational act and in hindsight, I would not have done it. I also mentioned to the panel that the slogans were written on the banner targeting the organisation, with whom our political ideology differs and was not an insult to Vivekananda,” the gold-medallist told TOI.She added, “It was communicated to me by a few seniors that if I apologise, the university will not take harsh action against me. But now, my apology holds no meaning. I feel deceived.”The student, now in her PG second year, has a few months left before getting her postgraduation degree. “I am in a vulnerable state. I don’t think we did anything to warrant such a disproportionate punishment. The act hasn’t threatened anyone’s life or destroyed university property. I have lost hope in my institute’s political culture but I am holding on because of what my humanities discipline has taught me. I will appeal to the vice-chancellor for reconsideration but the university seems to be under some external pressure.”Olivia reportedly confessed to scribbling the slogan on the ABVP banner. “I told the panel that I did it. A professor repeatedly asked me why I wrote on Vivekananda’s poster. I told her it was an ABVP banner, and not a Vivekananda poster as they are trying to brand it. The writing of the slogans was a spontaneous outburst of anger and frustration at the organisation as right-wing supporters were vandalising educational institutes. The attitude of the inquiry panel also shocked me as they tried to put forward the ABVP’s narrative. This attitude from the administration—whether from the Presidency’s political or administrative space—is beyond my expectation,” said the former student, who received the all-rounder award in 2024 in her PG-1.The university authorities did not want to comment.
