Activists of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, SFI organise rallies in Kolkata over JU incident
Telegraph | 5 March 2025
Activists of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha and Students Federation of India on Monday organised rallies in Kolkata over the March 1 incident in Jadavpur University in which Education Minister Bratya Basu was heckled during a protest and two students were injured allegedly by his moving car.
The processions came face to face near the local police station but amid slogan shouting while the security personnel took position.
While the BJP’s youth organization demanded an end to the "incidents of clash, strife and disruption in academic activities on the campus", the CPI(M) students' wing protested against the injury caused to two students because of the incident involving the minister's car.
BJYM state unit president Indranil Khan said they wanted to register a protest against the move of "Marxist-Maoist elements to turn JU campus into a virtual free zone”.
Khan alleged that the ruling TMC has entered into an unholy nexus with these Maoist forces that have often raised secessionist slogans against the country during their movement at JU.
The Maoist-Marxist elements at JU had often heckled “nationalist BJP leaders like Suvendu Adhilkari” and other saffron camp leaders when they came near the campus in the past but the TMC kept quiet at that time, Khan claimed.
He asserted that the attack on minister's car during a meeting of the TMC-affiliated West Bengal College and University Professors' Association (WBCUPA) in the university was a fallout of the lenient approach by the ruling party and JU administration towards the menace as TMC has an understanding with the Left.
"We equally condemn the hit and run incident involving the education minister's car involving the two Leftist student protesters on March 1," Khan said, demanding an end to the TMC regime.
SFI leader Suvajit Sarkar, on the other hand, demanded immediate resignation and arrest of Bratya Basu for “deliberately” causing hurt to two students and a thorough investigation into the incident.
Another Left student leader Srijon Bhattacharya claimed that the TMC and a section of media were trying to highlight the political ideology of one of the two injured, Naxalite RSF member Indranuj, to drive a wedge among those demanding holding of student union polls.
The attempt, however, will not succeed, he asserted.
Two students were injured when a car in the convoy of Basu grazed past them during a melee in Jadavpur University on March 1 as Leftist students tried to prevent the minister from leaving the campus, demanding a discussion on the conduct of student union polls.
The minister also suffered injuries as the windshield of his car was damaged by the protesters.
"Basu is responsible for the injuries to the two students and we demand his resignation from the state cabinet and police action against him," Sarkar said.
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