West Bengal a failed state, says eminent physicist Bikash Sinha

Kolkata, Jan 3: Eminent Indian physicist Bikash Sinha on Saturday strongly criticised the culture of protests in West Bengal and said it is a "failed state".

"There is no point in protesting all the time. West Bengal is a 'byartho rajjo' (failed state)... this is a fact. There has been no progress in the last two decades," Sinha, who is active in the fields of nuclear physics and high-energy physics, told a regional TV channel.

On the series of agitations by a section of the Jadavpur University students and faculty, the Padma Bhushan awardee said that a change of mindset is required.

"The mindset has to change," Sinha said, adding there is "no use in going to the University campus and creating a ruckus".

The students have been clamouring for vice chancellor Abhijit Chakrabarti's removal since Sep 17 when the University authorities ordered a police crackdown on a sit-in by students demanding an independent investigation into the alleged molestation of a female student inside a hostel.

The incident triggered protest rallies in the city and had a ripple effect across the country, with the alumni organising protest marches in Delhi and Mumbai.

Many students also boycotted the 59th annual convocation of the prestigious varsity Dec 24, 2014.

IANS