Uneasy calm in Jadavpur varsity day after Leftist students’ protests

An uneasy calm prevailed on Jadavpur University campus on Sunday morning after violent protests by Leftist students and heckling of West Bengal Education Minister Bratya Basu on the previous day.

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The windscreen of the minister’s car was smashed by protesters and two of the agitators were injured, one of them seriously, when the tyre of one of the vehicles in his convoy grazed past them.

A university official said a forensic team is expected to visit the campus on Sunday.

Minister’s car was damaged

• During the protests, the windscreen of West Bengal Education Minister Bratya Basu’s car was smashed. Two protesters were injured, one seriously, when a vehicle in Basu’s convoy grazed past them. The incident prompted a response from university officials and a forensic team was expected to visit the campus for further investigation.
• Leftist student groups, including CPM’s SFI and Naxalite student body AISA, demanded the immediate holding of student union elections and action against Basu, accusing him of deliberately injuring the protesters.

The university’s officiating Vice Chancellor Bhaskar Gupta was allegedly verbally abused by a section of Leftist students when he visited one of the injured students, Indranuj Roy, at a nearby private medical college and hospital.

The ruling Trinamool Congress’s Shiksha Cell (academic wing) office on the campus, which was set ablaze by angry protesters after the minister’s convoy left the university, bore telltale signs of rampage as gutted festoons, chairs and other articles were seen lying in a heap outside the room.

Angry students verbally abused Gupta when he went to meet the injured student at the hospital around 12.30 am. They accused him of doing nothing to address issues like holding union polls.

“I understand they are pained and anguished over Roy’s injury and we all are wishing for his speedy recovery,” he told reporters on Sunday morning.

Gupta also spoke to Basu on Sunday morning and discussed the situation with him, a university official said.

“Holding students union polls is in the domain of higher education ministry. However, we have repeatedly taken up the issue with the government,” he said.

Police personnel kept strict vigil outside the campus on S C Mallick Road and in front of Jadavpur police station where agitating Leftist students came face to face with TMC supporters in separate rallies on Saturday.

CPIM’s student wing SFI and Naxalite student body AISA demanded that student union polls be held immediately.

They also demanded action against Basu, alleging his car had deliberately sped away from the campus, leading to injuries to the two students.

The TMC also protested the heckling of Basu, vandalism during a programme of TMC-aligned West Bengal College and University Professors’ Association (WBCUPA) and assault on several of its members allegedly by the Leftist agitators.

Basu was later taken to SSKM Hospital as he felt uneasiness during the gherao and suffered bruises from broken glass shards on several parts of his body but his condition was stated to be stable and he later went to his home.