The death of Government College for Women (GCW), Gandhi Nagar student Anjali Chowdhury during the college excursion to Patnitop took a sharper turn on Monday as grieving students accused authorities of trying to reduce a “preventable death” into a routine accident to protect those responsible. Fervently demanding independent probe, they accuses college administration for allegedly employing tactics to gag their voice and suppression of truth.
Staging protest outside the college, the students raised slogans and many described Anjali’s death as not merely a road mishap but a case of “institutional negligence,”. They alleged that she fell from the moving bus after the vehicle’s door reportedly malfunctioned during the journey. What happened was a “disaster inside a college bus” that should never have occurred under staff supervision, alleged protesting students.
In emotionally charged scenes, the protesters alleged that attempts were being made to silence students and push a misinformation campaign to portray the incident as an unfortunate accident rather than a fatal consequence of negligence.
“Anjali did not die in an accident, she died because safety failed inside that bus,” said a protesting student, as others raised slogans demanding justice for their deceased classmate. Terming the attempts of vested elements as shame to project the tragic death as a simple accidental death, the students reveal circumstances leading to Anjali death.
The students openly questioned how a bus carrying young college girls was allowed to operate despite alleged safety defects and why those entrusted with student safety failed to detect or prevent the danger. They alleged that influential quarters were now trying to shield the transport contractor and officials from accountability.
Demanding justice, the students called for an independent probe by a senior administrative officer, immediate blacklisting of the transport vendor, and suspension of the staff members who had been deputed on the bus to ensure student safety during the excursion.
“Instead of wasting time trying to gag the voices of agitating students merely to shield the transport vendor and those deputed on the bus for maintaining safety and discipline, the Principal should rise to the occasion and demonstrate leadership with authority in a matter involving the death of a young student who lost her life through no fault of her own,” remarked a senior faculty member of the college.
Meanwhile, expressing concern over cancellation of class work due to students protest, reliable sources in GCW Gandhi Nagar said, “Major examinations of almost all semesters are around the corner and repeated suspension of class work will adversely affect the academics”.
JK Global News Take: The protest remained peaceful, but the message from the campus was unmistakable — the students are refusing to let Anjali’s death be dismissed as just another accident. For them, it has become a test of whether accountability still exists when a young life is lost under institutional care.