Arnab Dam, a jailed Maoist leader, will likely enrol in a PhD program at West Bengal’s Burdwan University after securing the 1st position in the admission test. His enrolment was initially delayed due to administrative issues, but state government intervention has paved the way for his academic pursuit.
To facilitate his enrolment, the state government transferred Dam from the Hooghly Jail to Burdwan Correctional Home on July 14, 2024, just a day before his PhD counselling session. Akhil Giri, the Correctional Administration Minister, confirmed the move and assured that security would be provided for Dam’s visit to the university campus.
TMC leader Kunal Ghosh also expressed support for Arnab Dam’s demand for enrolment in the PhD program at Burdwan University. “We are against the politics of killing. We are not calling for the release of Arnab. But if someone wants to pursue a journey in higher education despite being lodged in jail, isn’t that a silver lining in society?” said Mr. Ghosh via a post in Bengali on X in response to concerns expressed by the mother of a Maoist violence victim.
On July 8, Burdwan University had announced a pause in the counselling process for all prospective students, which included Dam. This delay led Dam to start a token fast in protest, which he broke only after being transferred to Burdwan Correctional Home. Despite ranking first in the interview among approximately 220 candidates, the university questioned whether Dam could physically attend the mandatory six-month coursework due to his imprisonment.
Dam had appeared for the PhD interview on June 26, 2024, amid a strict security cover. He secured the top spot among the only 9 seats for the PhD at the varsity.
He was arrested in 2012 as an accused in the 2010 attack on the Silda Eastern Frontier Rifles (EFR) camp and has been serving a life sentence. He was a state committee member of the CPI-Maoist and has been accused in several cases in South Bengal till 2010. He was also active in the neighbouring states of Odisha, Jharkhand and Bihar.
Dam has pursued his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in history from IGNOU while in the correctional home, securing first division in both. He had also cleared the State Eligibility Test (SET) after appearing for the examination from jail and became the first to do so from a correctional home in the state. Known for being a meritorious student, Dam completed his higher secondary education at the prestigious Narendrapur Ramakrishna Mission. Later, he had cleared the IIT entrance test and joined IIT-Kharagpur, but got attracted to Maoist ideology and absconded after third semester.
