The tension erupted at Jadavpur University in Kolkata late Wednesday night after supporters of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad and the Students’ Federation of India clashed on campus.
The confrontation started during a general body meeting of the Faculty of Engineering and Technology Students’ Union. The ABVP objected to the meeting and said that the Left leaning student groups were trying to establish the union without proper authority.
The situation later turned violent, with both sides making serious allegations against each other.
The Kolkata Police said ABVP supporters Diptiman Kar and Nikhil Das were injured during the clash. Nikhil Das is the ABVP president.
According to the police, the physical fight took place inside the university campus.
The ABVP claimed that members of the SFI, Democratic Students Organisation and Democratic Students’ Federation were holding the meeting when its supporters were there to object. SFI members assaulted its supporters, the organisation said.
The Left leaning groups rejected the allegation and presented a different version of events.
What triggered the Jadavpur University clash?
The main dispute centred on the general body meeting of the Faculty of Engineering and Technology Students’ Union.
The ABVP questioned how the meeting was being held and argued that there was no elected students' union on campus. BJP MLA Sharbari Mukherjee, who reached the area after the incident, also questioned who had called the meeting.
And soon the dispute was turning into a physical fight.
The DSO said ABVP supporters brought outsiders into the university and damaged property. The group claimed that people entered the campus carrying sticks and attacked SFI and DSO members as well as other students.
Left leaning groups also claimed that SFI banners and festoons were torn down and slogans were removed. In addition, some flags were set on fire.
An SFI supporter told the media that people entered the campus through Gate 4 and damaged banners. There was an attempt to set Aurobindo Bhavan on fire as well, the supporter said.
A security guard at Aurobindo Bhavan described the situation as frightening. He said some students asked him to open the gates and entered the building. He later locked the gates and said people outside were kicking them, setting flags on fire and throwing them inside.
The guard said he kept in contact with the university administration during the incident.
SFI West Bengal state secretary Debanjan Dey accused the ABVP, RSS and BJP supporters of attacking students and attempting to disturb the university environment.
SFI general secretary Srijan Bhattacharya also claimed that BJP supporters entered the campus and caused damage. Such claims were made by the Left student groups and are part of the competing allegations surrounding the incident.
The ABVP has denied responsibility for the vandalism and claimed that the supporters of the meeting attended to protest it.
Police later entered the university after the pro vice chancellor requested assistance.
Police enter Campus as University Calls for Peace.
According to Kolkata Police, a team entered the campus after receiving a request from the university administration. Officers removed people described as outsiders and surveyed the area.
Police said they found posters and festoons torn and burned outside Aurobindo Bhavan.
The police also found about 50 to 60 people inside the building, where the meeting was still going on. Officers asked them to leave, but they refused, according to the report. Police intervened and dispersed the group.
Clashes broke out between members of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) at Jadavpur University in Kolkata late Wednesday night, with the latter alleging that several of its supporters were injured.
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At midnight BJP MLA Sharbari Mukherjee and her supporters also reached Jadavpur Police Station to lodge a complaint. A third year student filed a written complaint naming 11 people.
Jadavpur University Vice Chancellor Professor Chiranjib Bhattacharjee condemned the incident and said violence and vandalism had no place on the campus.
Students are free to hold different political views, he said, but university education and research is its main mission. He also said the university should be known for its research achievements rather than violence.
The Vice Chancellor said the university remained in touch with the police but no formal complaint had been made by the administration, he said.
He also pointed to a court order regarding CCTV cameras and round the clock police presence. The university had previously opposed permanent police deployment inside the campus.
Bhattacharjee said he had told the police to remain outside the campus but be ready to enter if the situation needed intervention.
He said the investigation would establish who started the trouble and who provoked the confrontation.
On Thursday, the Jadavpur University situation remained calm but police were monitoring the campus.
Both ABVP and SFI held separate rallies to protest the incident. There were also police deployed outside the university gates to prevent further disturbances, they said.
The authorities also received information on planned political protests around the 8B bus stand and surrounding Jadavpur University.
The university administration is holding a high level meeting and is expected to send a report to Lok Bhawan and the state administration.
The incident has also reached the Calcutta High Court. A petition seeking an urgent hearing on the clash was heard before a bench of Acting Chief Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty and Justice Atarup Banerjee.
The court did not accept the petitioner’s request for a hearing immediately, but advised them to file a case. The case could be heard once it was formally listed, the court said.
The police investigation will now seek to establish the exact sequence of events and who was involved in the violence, and investigate those who made the allegations.
This has once again thrust student politics in Jadavpur University in the spotlight. And with both groups accusing each other, investigators will need to rely on CCTV footage, witness testimony and other evidence to find out what happened.
At university level for the administration, peace is the priority and students and staff are to be safe.
