Tension sparked at Jadavpur University On March 1 at the annual general meeting of West Bengal College and University Professors Association (WBCUPA), an organization of Trinamool-affiliated professors, leading to multiple rounds of unrest on campus, which later also spread outside to other parts of Kolkata. CPI(M) students wing SFI started demonstrating in the campus and gheraoed Education minister Bratya Basu, who was attending the meeting. Members of SFI, AISA, and DSF surrounded him, chanting “Go Back” slogans. In response, Bratya Basu criticised the protesters during the conference.

Basu, who is also the president of WBCUPA, tried to speak to the agitating students and accepted their memorandum. However, he was gheraoed by the protestors on his way out and his security personnel had difficulty escorting him to his car. Allegations surfaced that protesters punctured his car’s tires and vandalized both his vehicle and the pilot car. Bratya Basu sustained injuries and was taken to SSKM Hospital, where he received primary treatment before being discharged.

“Today those who had protested against saffronisation of the country, those who made tall claims about fighting for democracy, fighting against fascism, today joined hands with fascist forces to demonstrate against me and members of the teaching community just because we did not succumb to their pressure tactics, their intimidatory tactics,” Basu later told media.

Contrarily, the protesting students alleged that the minister’s car had run over a student, injuring him severely. The protesters also clashed with WBCUPA members on the university campus. Additionally, there were allegations that Omprakash Mishra, a professor and WBCUPA member, was chased by protesters but was eventually rescued by security personnel. 

SFI began a sit-in protest in front of the police station, while Trinamool responded with a rally in the evening of the day of the incident. Tension escalated after the two groups came face-to-face in Jadavpur. However, the police managed to bring the situation under control. The RAF was deployed to control the situation. 

Eventually, Trinamool staged a protest at the police station, demanding the arrest of those accused of vandalizing the minister’s car, while SFI has called for a strike in colleges and universities across the state on March 3.

Trinamool Minister Aroop Biswas stated that those who assaulted a professor were not students but “goons” while the Jadavpur University Teachers’ Association (JUTA) issued a statement condemning the incident.

“When SFI students went to submit a deputation to the Education Minister, they were severely injured by Trinamul-backed miscreants and have been admitted to KPC for now,” SFI said in an emergency press meet. According to SFI leader Kaushiki Bhattacharya, “We did not resort to violence. It is the TMC outsiders who joined some of their sympathisers on the campus to attack our activists and use abusive language against us. We only wanted to have a discussion with the minister regarding conducting the students union polls at the earliest,” she said. 

It is pertinent to note here that students union elections to all state-run, state-aided higher educational institutions of West Bengal could not be held for the past five years as the last students union election was marred by series of clashes at college and university campuses and the state government had said elections will again be held after the general elections of 2024. However, the student union polls have been deferred ever since prompting various student bodies to demand that the polls be held as soon as possible.

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