After disruption at CM speech, Kellogg College expresses regret
Times of India | 29 March 2025
12345 London/Kolkata: Kellogg College on Friday said it regretted "that a small group of people sought to prevent healthy discussion," in its first formal reactions after the barracking of Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee's address at Oxford University.
In an email to TOI, the college said, "We were aware of the potential for protests, and support the right to freedom of expression; however, we regret that a small group of people sought to prevent healthy discussion at this event. Security staff requested the protesters to allow the event to proceed, and it was only after they ignored these requests and continued to attempt to disrupt the meeting that they were removed. No police were called to the incident, and the event continued in a respectful manner."
The college said the Proctors' Office sent staff who asked and encouraged the protestors to leave. The college was aware there was chatter on social media about a possible protest.
After the incident, senior academics, College President Jonathan Michie, and Lord Karan Bilimoria also praised CM Banerjee on her handling of the situation. Sources said that at the traditional dinner after the speech – which CM Banerjee could not attend due to her cramped schedule – Bilimoria, Michie, and other professors raised a toast with students on how the CM handled the situation. The Bengal industry delegation accompanying the CM was present at the dinner.
The barracking on Thursday evoked a range of responses – both online and offline – but on predictable lines.
Trinamool spokespersons and a wide swathe of netizens, including medical professionals, took umbrage at how the CM's speech – to showcase Bengal's achievements and her vision of Bengal's future – was hijacked by a minuscule group of hecklers. There was praise for how Banerjee took the hecklers face-on, with emphasis on the presumed contrast with the likely response of other "undemocratic and authoritarian" political figures.
SFI spokespersons took off from where the hecklers left, praising them for highlighting "the real issues" that the state needed to address and the grievances the administration needed to redress.
CM Banerjee spoke for over an hour and six minutes at Oxford University, showcasing several of the state's landmark schemes (like Kanyashree and Lakhir Bhandar). She also stressed the need for inclusivity and avoiding "divisive policies," especially by politicians in office.
Banerjee was almost 30 minutes into the speech when she was talking about industries coming to her state when the protestors started disrupting her.
Trinamool immediately reacted with a post on X, "She (Mamata Banerjee) doesn't flinch. She doesn't falter. The more you heckle, the fiercer she roars. Mamata Banerjee is a Royal Bengal Tiger!"
Education minister Bratya Basu, who also faced such heckling in JU on March 1, called the protest "a reflection of collective hopelessness among the red and saffron camps." "It has become a norm for elements like these to attack our leaders in the midst of an ongoing function. Mamata Banerjee was representing the state and the country and this wasn't a political platform. I would like to repeat after my leader that these people should, instead, come back to the country and strengthen their party to fight communal forces," Basu said.
Trinamool spokesperson and part of Banerjee's entourage to the UK, Kunal Ghosh wrote, "A motley band of Left supporters brought disrepute to the state and country by their actions. They have forgotten about everything that happened in Bengal during the Left rule. Confronted by the audience, they fled the scene. Instead of raising questions during the question-and-answer session, these people displayed their culture." The party's IT cell chief Debangshu Bhattacharya questioned the identity of the protesters. "These people were neither students of Oxford, nor were they British citizens. By trying to insult the chief minister, they ended up insulting India. People will give them a befitting reply with interest," said Bhattacharya.
Senior state officials in Kolkata told TOI on Friday that they had "tip-offs" about attempts by a section of "ultra-left and left sympathisers" to "hijack" the CM's address. "Unfortunately, it turned out to be true," he added. "But it was characteristic of CM Banerjee to allow even the hecklers their time and respond to them in full public glare," another senior bureaucrat said.
SFI and BJP claimed the protestors to their supporters.
The SFI UK in a statement on X said, "SFI-UK held a demonstration in Kellogg College, Oxford against Mamata Banerjee's speech. We opposed her blatant lies by asking her for evidence of the social development she claims to pioneer. Instead of allowing us to peacefully express our opinions, the police were called."
SFI state secretary Debanjan De said, "SFI will not let her go so easily. She will have to answer questions on why the number of student drop-outs in Bengal is on the rise and why their rights to education, expression and security are getting curtailed by each passing day. She must answer why the RG Kar victim is yet to receive justice and why students' elections have been halted in the state's campuses."
BJP said the protestors were Hindu Bengalis. In a post on X, BJP leader Amit Malviya said Bengali Hindus confronted CM Mamata Banerjee at Kellogg College, raising angry slogans "calling her out for the rape and murder of the woman doctor at RG Kar, crimes against women in Sandeshkhali, the genocide of Hindus, and widespread corruption." He said those were "just a few posters that were held up to Mamata Banerjee."
"It shows the deep frustration within the CPM of having to see public support veer away from it so sharply in the course of a decade," a Trinamool leader said. The CPM-led Left Front governed Bengal from 1977 to 2011, winning seven assembly elections on the trot. But it lost office in 2011, getting 40 seats and 30% of votes. The seat and vote share fell to 26 and 20%, respectively, in 2016. After that, the party has been on a sharp downslide, with the BJP entrenching itself as the main opposition party in Bengal. The CPM won no seat and its electoral alliance got 1.4% of votes in the 2021 assembly election and 5.6% of votes in the 2024 Lok Sabha poll. MSID:: 119663212 413 |
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