Kolkata: Professor Kanark Sarkar, who teaches international relations at Jadavpur University, has triggered a major controversy with its misogynist and sexist posts, equating a virgin girl to a sealed bottle.
The teaching community has come out with outright rejection of his pervert thoughts but Sarkar has remained unperturbed. He has even invoked his constitutional rights and Supreme Court ruling on freedom of expression. The controversial post has, however, been deleted.
“Are you willing to buy a broken seal while purchasing a bottle of cold drink or a packet of biscuits?..”A girl is biologically sealed from birth until it is opened. A virgin girl means many many things accompanied as values, culture, sexual hygiene”…”Virgin girl is like sealed bottle or sealed packet,” he posted.
Minutes later it went viral, evoking widespread condemnation and ridicule on social media.
His colleagues refused to side with him. Jadavpur University Teachers Association issued a statement condemning the “highly deplorable, misogynistic and sexist comments” made by the professor.
Talking to Time of India, educationist Amal Mukhopadhyay said he could believe such statements from a teacher. “Teachers are beacons of society and the youth are led by their example. Such mindsets are not healthy. Unless we know how to respect women, which is one of the most basic tenets of teaching profession, what values will he pass on? I fell ashamed,” he said.
According to some media reports, Sarkar has also been accused of sexual harassment by some of his students. Sarkar’s name appeared in one of the Facebook posts around 2017 when the #MeToo movement took off.
A visit to Sarkar’s facebook page reveals he has had a habit of posting objectionable messages, mostly surrounding around a woman’s virginity.
In a Facebook post dated November 9, 2018, he said, “Modern Boys and Girls think that celibacy, virginity are not part of ethics and morality. Thus girls get exploited by cunning and scoundrel boys”.
Similarly, on December 22, 2018, he said that women should be proud if they are virgin before marriage. “Express your virginity during marriage negotiation or during love affair or even in married life. I am sure you will be honoured by your husband or lover,” he wrote.
The latest post has prompted one of his former students to come out with allegation of sexual slur against her by the professor.
Journalist Adrija Chatterjee shared the girl’s allegations.
“I was giving a presentation in class one day and this man interrupted me in the middle, and I thought it was to ask me a question. However, to my absolute dismay, he asked me if I want to grow up and become a model, since my “figure” is very model like. He also asked me if I have a lot of male friends, because according to him, I’m what men would “enjoy”. My HOD, in front of a class of 52 students, in that moment, reduced me to nothing. How are we allowing such professors to carry on?”, she alleged.
