In a question paper in the history of Government Vidyasagar University in West Bengal, controversy has arisen over calling Indian revolutionaries ‘terrorists’. There was a sharp political response to this incident, after which the institute had to publicly apologize, calling it a ‘printing error’.
This controversial event came in the 12th question of the question paper of the sixth semester (in Bengali) of Graduation (History). Students were asked by the students ‘three district magistrates of Midnapore’ killed by terrorists during British rule. Later, the university accepted this error and described it as an omission in ‘proofriding’.
Question papers had been left before knowing the mistake
Vice Chancellor Deepak Kar said on Friday (July 11, 2025), “It was a printing error, which was missed during proofing.” He said, ‘There was no time to fix it once the question paper was distributed. I have asked the Controller of Examinations to present a detailed report.
The three killed magistrates mentioned were James Pedi, Robert Douglas and Bernard Burj. All three were shot in Midnapore during three years for his atrocities. Condemning this mistake, educationist Pabitra government said, ‘It is unimaginable to call the youth fighting British repression’ terrorists’ in independent India. The term was used by the colonial rulers.
Shubhendu Adhikari objected by posting
Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Shubhendu Adhikari called the mention of ‘terrorist’ as ‘extremely derogatory’ in a post on ‘X’. He said, ‘Administrative officials of Vidyasagar University have once again insulted our revered freedom fighters by calling the brave revolutionaries of Midnapore as’ militants ‘and’ terrorists ‘in the sixth semester question paper of 2025 graduation.’
The official said, ‘This is not a single mistake, but our history is deliberately distorted. The shameful mistake that was made in the year 2023 has now been repeated. In the year 2023, such a shameful mistake was made under the supervision of a well-known leader Dr. Nirmal Kumar Mahato, the head of the Department of History and in the ‘WBAPA),’ West Bengal College and University Professor Association ‘(WBAPA).
Action has not yet been taken against Dr. Mahato
WBAPA is the political organization of the Trinamool Congress, which includes professors. Posting the BJP leader, the BJP leader wrote, ‘Surprisingly, no action was taken against Dr. Mahato despite repeated lapses. The worse thing is that their stature has increased. After 2023 mistake, he was promoted to the post of Joint Secretary of WBAPA.
He further wrote that for those who do not know, let me tell you that the tyrannical British District Magistrate, Burj (1933), Paddy (1931) and Douglas (1932) were targeted by Indian freedom fighters. Peddy was murdered by Bimal Dasgupta and Jyotijivan Ghosh.
Trinamool Congress separated itself from controversy
Mahato could not be contacted for his response, while university sources described the officer’s remarks as ‘unfortunate’. State General Secretary of Trinamool Congress, Kunal Ghosh, separated the party from the controversy and said, ‘Questions were decided by some people, not the education department. It should be investigated who approved the question paper.
Marxist Communist Party leader Sujan Chakraborty and Congress’s Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary also condemned the terminology and described it as ‘unthinkable in independent India’. He blamed the Trinamool government for allowing such lapses.
Question paper came out of syllabus
The university faced more embarrassment when the examination of graduation (prestige-politics) was canceled on Friday, as the question paper was out of the syllabus. The university administration said that the examination will be done again next week.
Also read:- Central government extended the tenure of Home Secretary Govind Mohan, played important responsibility during Korona epidemic