Vishva Bharati boasts of having the Prime Minister of India in the Chancellor position. So it came as no surprise when our ‘underachiever’ Prime Minister’s office took special interest in bypassing all protocols and reach out to seek for an immediate report through the human resource development ministry.

The teacher who was set to retire within a few days is said to have clarified her stance by saying it was not her intention to victimize the girl but she had known of incident where the problem of bedwetting has been cured by such treatments.

Renowned RTI activist Subhash Agarwal has condemned the incident and the local government’s inaction in the strongest terms. “Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) should be complimented for taking cognizance of serious news-item about a child made to drink urine at Vishva Bharti University (Shanti Niketan), bypassing many other government-functionaries and commissions etc. However the incident seems to be practically unbelievable. If the incident was indeed true, release of the guilty warden on bail was still a bigger crime. Matter requires some concrete practical approach rather than being allowed to fade away with time in the name of forming a probe-committee, submission of the probe-report, study of the report and then never-coming concrete action after public-memory fades away,” Mr Agarwal said in an email.

At the same time, Mr. Agarwal has also requested the media to come forth and give a platform to the accused teacher to at least speak out her version. “Practical remedy is to make the concerned warden present before media, where she can also give her own version on the incident in a sort of Lok Adalat. Otherwise present judicial system will linger on for years justifying the proverb ‘Justice delayed is justice denied’. In case incident proves to be true, a ‘tit for tat’ approach should be adopted in full media-glare with the guilty warden so as to be the only effective check to prevent future such incidents. It is a matter of surprise and shock that those in West Bengal government have not so far reacted to the incident, with political faces missing from TV panel-discussions on the incident,” Mr Agarwal suggested.

Even as the court reprimanded the police for slapping lighter charges on the teacher and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights taking account of the situation, one keeps wondering where we are headed as a nation that once boasted of rich cultural heritage.