From Our Special Correspondent
GUWAHATI, Feb 22: The ongoing controversy surrounding the University of Science and Technology Meghalaya (USTM) has now reached a complex stage with the university’s Chancellor Mahbubul Hoque’s arrest on Saturday.
The Special Task Force (STF) of Assam Police arrested the USTM chancellor from his residence here in the wee hours over alleged irregularities in a CBSE Class 12 exam in a school at Patharkandi, reportedly run by the Education Research and Development Foundation (ERD) Group, founded by Hoque.
However, neither the ERD Group nor the police have issued any official statement in this regard.
According to reports, a case in regard to the alleged irregularities in the exam was registered in Sribhumi and investigation is under way.
Assam Education Minister Ranoj Pegu, meanwhile, has demanded an urgent and thorough investigation into the incident.
“Students were reportedly assured assistance in the 30-mark MCQ section of their CBSE Class 12 exams at Central Public School, Patharkandi (owned by the USTM group). Many, mostly from Goalpara, were strategically placed there to gain an unfair advantage in exams,” Pegu stated on social media.
“When external invigilators refused to comply, chaos ensued. Teachers were locked inside, prompting police intervention. This serious violation of academic integrity demands an urgent and thorough investigation,” the education minister stated.
Notably, the development comes just a few days after Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had labelled USTM as “fraudulent”, an allegation which the university authorities have categorically refuted.
On the other hand, senior Congress leader Ripun Bora has strongly condemned the action taken on the USTM chancellor. “From the past few months, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has been attacking Hoque, a renowned educationist from the Northeast, for his vested interests,” Bora stated on social media.
Commenting on Hoque’s arrest, Sarma said, “For some time now, I have been observing a large network which promises students that they will ensure high marks for them, and ahead of medical and engineering entrance and CBSE-conducted exams, the examination centre of these students are changed to some specific schools.”
“Over 200 students under the CBSE curriculum from Goalpara, Nagaon and Kamrup districts were taken to a centre in Pathakarndi in Sribhumi, hundreds of kilometres from their home, this time also. When the students did not get any opportunity to score easy marks, they created a ruckus and the issue came to the fore,” the CM claimed.
Students appearing for board exams at a school in Patharkandi had raised allegations on Friday that their school authorities had assured them of external help in answering the question paper, but no such help was provided.
Sarma claimed that such fraud measures were not limited to CBSE-conducted exams alone, but happening in the medical entrance exam as well. “This person is a big fraud, his entire background is fraud. He had been trying to mislead the people by bringing a few intellectuals under his influence,” Sarma alleged, referring to Hoque.
“We will ensure that education is not transformed into business in Assam. We will take steps to prevent it,” he added.
It may be recalled that Hoque was embroiled in a controversy last year over his OBC certificate, which he had obtained “fraudulently” in Sribhumi district in the 1990s.
Sarma had said in August that a police case would be registered against the USTM chancellor for allegedly fraudulently obtaining the OBC certificate, which was cancelled subsequently.
The Assam CM had also held USTM and Hoque responsible for “flood jihad” against Guwahati, claiming that the water flowing down from the varsity campus, which is located on a hill adjacent to the city, leads to massive flooding. (With PTI inputs)