A massive armed police presence was observed at Jogesh Chandra Chaudhuri College in Kolkata, where the institute held Saraswati Puja with permission from the Calcutta High Court Sunday. Kolkata had previously seen police stationed with guns outside colleges during elections and checking students’ identification cards, but this level of security for Saraswati Puja was unprecedented.
This was after the Calcutta High Court on Friday asked the police to remove a makeshift pandal outside the main building of Jogesh Chandra Chaudhuri Day College and Law College to allow the law college students to perform Saraswati Puja on the campus. The single-judge bench of Justice Jay Sengupta had also asked the police commissioner to depute a joint commissioner and deploy armed police personnel to ensure students of both the day and the law colleges could hold their pujas on the campus, and no outsiders were let in.
While the law department of the college was performing the puja inside the college, the day section of the college built a pandal in a lane outside the college. Joint Commissioner of Police Ajoy Prasad said, “The Calcutta High Court had ordered that the puja be carried out under police supervision. I am here, and the deputy commissioner (south) is also here. We will visit from time to time to ensure everything goes smoothly.”
Meanwhile, students of the law college alleged that outsider Sabir Ali and his group have regularly been coming to the college and threatening and harassing the students there.
As Education Minister Bratya Basu and Trinamool Congress MP Mala Roy visited the college, law students demanded that they would like to discuss the issue of safety and security within the college campus. Basu met with the students inside the principal’s room to hear their grievances but refused to speak to the media after the meeting.
TMC MP Mala Roy, however, told the media, “If the students want to discuss something, we will certainly sit and listen to them, but on the day of the puja, we will not listen to slogans of “we want justice”. This is not politics. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has said all students will do puja.”
Roy further said, “We do not know about internal college issues. We have not come here to do politics. Before this, no one had told me they wanted to say something. On February 6 or 7, I will come to the college and speak to them about their allegations. So that no untoward incident occurs and peace and tranquillity prevail.”
Traditionally, both colleges celebrate Saraswati Puja separately on campus. However, this year, allegations surfaced that the Day College students forcibly erected a pandal before the Law College’s pandal, effectively blocking the latter’s puja celebrations.
In response, Day College representatives denied involvement, claiming that outsiders were responsible for setting up the pandal. Following a row between two groups of students over organising Saraswati Puja in the college, a student moved a petition before the Calcutta High Court seeking its intervention.
The court held that separate puja be conducted for the Day College and Law College departments and the entire event be filmed and instructed the Charu Market police station to dismantle an illegal puja pandal set up inside the Day College premises and document the process.
Meanwhile, Bapan Das, officer in charge of the Pukhuria police station in the Malda police district, said, “Do not use DJ, please maintain the time for soundbox and microphones, and all puja committees have been informed that at night do not leave the Pandals empty.”