– Mita Mukherjee

Students of IIT Kharagpur have said in a complaint to the authorities that a professor had allegedly abused them and their parents during an online class for not standing up for the national anthem.

A video of the professor of humanities and social sciences where she was purportedly heard abusing the students went viral in social media on Monday.

In the video a woman’s voice is heard saying: “ This (standing up for the national anthem) is the  minimum you can do for your country …. One smart fellow did not stand for the national anthem and said Bharat mata ki jay…”

“ You have to stand up for two minutes in the honour of the national anthem… you can do it…,”.  

The voice is then heard abusing in the video clip and them saying , “This is also on your parents.”

The woman’s voice is also heard telling the students “shameless creatures”.

“Do you have any shame… you shameless creatures of prep course.”

Tamal Nath, IIT-Kharagpur registrar said the authorities  have received a complaint in this regard and necessary action will be taken against the teacher after examining the complaint.

“The matter has come to our knowledge. We in the IITs don’t support use of such language. Appropriate action will be taken if the allegations are found to be true,” Tamal Nath told EducationWorld.   

The woman’s voice was also heard saying she had 20 marks for the students and she would give zeroes to all the 128 students in the batch.

In the IITs, one-year preparatory courses are run for students belonging to SC, ST and persons with disability categories of students to fill in the seats reserved for them. Sources said the 128 students are from IIT-Kharagpur.

Students of IITs have demanded immediate action against the teacher for her act and sought her termination.

The video clip was uploaded on social media anonymously on the IIT Kharagpur Confessions page, an informal group of students on social media. 

There is no discrimination in premier institutes? This is what happens in IITs. IIT Kharagpur Prof. Seema Singh openly abuses freshers enrolled in Preparatory English Course for SC/ST/PD students and challenges them to complain.

Will the government book her under PoA Act? pic.twitter.com/YvzOuxjmwm

— Azhar (@lonelyredcurl) April 26, 2021

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