Jadavpur University unrest spills onto streets as ABVP, Left students clash with police

Fresh clashes erupted inside and outside Jadavpur University on Thursday as ABVP and Left-leaning student groups confronted each other and police, a day after violence over a student body session left a number of students injured and triggered a political slugfest in West Bengal.

Key points

• Jadavpur University Vice-Chancellor Chiranjib Bhattacharjee remarked different political viewpoints had historically co-existed on campus but stressed that violence and vandalism could not be allowed.
• "Jadavpur University has been targeted as part of a war declared against the new generation and students by the Sangh Parivar, " Salim remarked.
• The latest tension unfolded in the afternoon when ABVP supporters marched towards Jadavpur University's Gate No.
• CPI(M) youth leader Dipshita Dhar accused Mukherjee of provoking ABVP supporters and defended students' right to participate in the FETSU session.
• At the other end of the road near the 8B bus stand, SFI and other Left-affiliated students attempted to march towards the university.

Notably, the latest tension unfolded in the afternoon when ABVP supporters marched towards Jadavpur University's Gate No. 4 from the nearby Jadavpur police station. They broke through police barricades and reached the locked gate, with some protesters attempting to climb it. Left-leaning students inside the campus gathered near the entrance to prevent them from entering.

While police, Rapid Action Force personnel and central paramilitary forces were deployed to keep the rival groups apart, the protesters outside allegedly hurled eggs and water bottles into the campus.

At the other end of the road near the 8B bus stand, SFI and other Left-affiliated students attempted to march towards the university. Police halted them with barricades, leading to scuffles between protesters and security personnel. The Left protesters afterwards sat on the road in a sit-in.

In practice, the Thursday confrontation came after violence inside the campus during the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday over a general body session of the Faculty of Engineering and Technology Students' Union (FETSU).

Notably, the ABVP had objected to the session, questioning its legitimacy in the absence of an elected students' union at the university. Left-leaning student groups, meanwhile, accused ABVP supporters of entering the campus with outsiders and disrupting the session.

Both sides have accused the other of bringing outsiders to the university. A number of students were injured in the clashes and were taken to KPC Medical College Hospital. There were additionally allegations of stone-pelting, vandalism, fires and attempts to damage university facilities.

Notably, the university's emblem additionally became a casualty of the confrontation. The sizeable iron emblem installed at Gate No. 4 was pulled down and damaged during the protest. Designed under the direction of renowned artist Nandalal Bose, the emblem is an significant symbol of the university. Teachers and students subsequently displayed it on the campus. The violence prompted competing political reactions.

West Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya sought to distance the party from the ABVP, saying it was an independent nationalist student organisation and not the BJP's student wing.

"ABVP is not the student's wing of BJP. It is a nationalistic students' body which functions independently and is not a branch organisation of the BJP, " Bhattacharya remarked.

He remarked the BJP had no role in deciding the ABVP's position and maintained that the party did not seek to conduct student politics inside educational institutions.

Nevertheless, BJP's Jadavpur MLA Sarbori Mukherjee. This person participated in an ABVP rally, took a more confrontational position, accusing the university of becoming a "factory that produces anti-nationals".

"A nationalist administration has been formed in West Bengal after much effort. We will not allow anti-national forces to raise their heads in this state, " Mukherjee remarked, adding that she would not allow slogans against the country to be raised on campus.

CPI(M) state secretary Mohammed Salim accused the Sangh Parivar of targeting Jadavpur University as part of what he described as a "war" against the younger generation and students.

He alleged that ABVP activists were branding students who backing free thought as "dimagi Naxals", referring to the term employed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech.

CPI(M) youth leader Dipshita Dhar accused Mukherjee of provoking ABVP supporters and defended students' right to participate in the FETSU session. Left groups additionally renewed their demand for students' union elections.

Notably, the dispute over the session remains at the centre of the confrontation. ABVP supporters have alleged that their members were assaulted after objecting to the manner in which the session was being conducted. Left-leaning groups have denied responsibility for the violence and accused ABVP supporters of bringing outsiders onto the campus.

He remarked the university would strengthen security, restrict the entry of outsiders after dark and constitute an inquiry committee to establish the circumstances that led to the violence.

For context, the university remained tense on Thursday evening, with extra security forces deployed around the campus against the backdrop of fears of further clashes.

In short, jadavpur University unrest spills onto streets as ABVP, Left students clash with is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.