18,000 people signed an online petition supporting St. Xavier’s former teacher, who was forced to resign for an Instagram post wearing swimsuit

Kerala Higher Education Department

More than 18,000 people have come forward and signed an online petition seeking disciplinary education against Felix Raj, vice chancellor of St. Xavier’s University (SXU), Kolkata, to express solidarity with unanimity with the former English assistant professor who was forced to resign over her Instagram picture in October 2021. The online petition has been addressed to the West Bengal Higher Education.

Alumni and former teachers of St.Xavier’s College and University have slammed the university authorities on social media after the teacher was forced to resign because of a complaint by a student’s parents over her swimsuit photographs on Instagram. The former assistant professor has now decided to file a case against the university authorities at the Calcutta High Court.

According to the teacher, who wishes to remain anonymous, on October 7, a kangaroo court was held by registrar Asish Mitra and VC, where she was taunted and bullied with objectionable insinuations and sexually-coloured remarks without any justification. Since this news broke, it has received condemnation on social media. On August 12th, students from SXU wore black clothes and organized a silent protest to show their support for the teacher.

Ananya Chakrabarty, West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child Rights’ current chairperson and former professor of St. Xavier’s College, wrote a letter to Felix Raj talking about the pain and agony she feels about the situation. She also shared this to her Facebook account, stating that encouraging students and their families to question the personal lives of faculties is a digression from the academic process and negatively impacts the revered space of the institution.