A day after Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) supporters were seen defacing the walls of Jadavpur University with graffiti about the Students Federation of India (SFI), protest matches by both sides on Thursday led to heavy police deployment around the premises.
ABVP supporters broke police barricades at the Jadavpur crossing and proceeded towards the university gate. They stood outside the gate, while SFI and other left-wing student supporters were inside, each hurling water bottles and eggs at each other.
While the SFI was protesting the ABVP’s move against Wednesday night’s incident, the latter alleged that their supporter was beaten up and injured by students, which led to them vandalising the university campus.
“Our worker, Nikhil Das, a student of Jadavpur University was beaten up for which we protested till 1:00 AM (on Wednesday night)," said Arunava Dutta, an ABVP supporter.
“The whole night there was mayhem on the Jadavpur University campus. BJP and RSS goons attacked the main administrative block in Aurobindo Bhavan and attempted to set fire in various parts of the campus. Jadavpur University students were beaten up,” alleged Debanjan Dey, SFI state secretary, and also stated that there was no response by police despite repeated calls.
BJP denied responsibility, stating that the ABVP was not their student wing.
“ABVP is not a student wing of BJP—they are an independent organisation. They will take they own decision. BJP is against politics on campus,” claimed BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya.
However, left-wing students questioned the presence of BJP MLA Sharbari Mukherjee at the hospital where the injured students were taken to. They also alleged that the BJP had issued threats to SFI students to surrender in front of the police.
The Vice Chancellor of Jadavpur University Chiranjib Bhattacharjee said there had always been police presence outside the campus, and that they had only tried to de-escalate the situation on Wednesday.
CCTV cameras were installed inside the university after a Calcutta High Court judgement which also stated there should be a police outpost inside the campus too.
“We tried to explain to the High Court this is against the culture of the university—to have a police outpost to maintain law and order and security—we didn’t agree to that, but with the current situation we may be forced to order,” said Chiranjib Bhattacharjee, who believes the university believes in space for all ideologies while condemning the attack.
“The campus is not outside the law of the land, sections of BNSS (Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita) should apply to the Jadavpur university campus,” added the VC. However a formal police complaint has not been filed.
The attack occurred in phases starting at around 8:30 PM and went on till past midnight on Wednesday at the university campus. The clashes between the Left Front student wing supporters and the ABVP was over the student body elections, which have not taken place since 2020.
