Don’t misuse freedom: JU alumnus warns against hooliganism on campus
Telegraph | 4 January 2026
Jadavpur University cannot permit “hooliganism” in the name of fostering “intellectual independence”, IIT Kharagpur director Suman Chakraborty, himself an alumnus of JU, said on Saturday.
Chakraborty was at JU to deliver the keynote address on the occasion of its second alumni day, and spoke on the theme “Alumni Engagement at Jadavpur University: From Shared Memory to Shared Mission”.
“Preserve JU’s intellectual independence while expanding its global reach. But a caution: do not indulge in hooliganism in the name of intellectual independence. I am saying this very clearly,” said Chakraborty, a 1996 BTech graduate of the university.
While listing intellectual independence as one of JU’s strengths, Chakraborty stressed that such freedom could not be misused. “Intellectual independence cannot be allowed to become a cover for disruptive behaviour,” he said.
Later, responding to a question from Metro on why he felt compelled to sound the warning, Chakraborty drew from his own student experience.
“At Jadavpur, when someone exercises intellectual independence, it often revolves around varied forms of hooliganism. During our days, the hooliganism that existed did not disrupt the university administration. I studied here for four years and witnessed hooliganism,” he said.
“What is happening now is that this hooliganism is creating hurdles for the university administration. This cannot be allowed in any way. This form of hooliganism has nothing to do with any political ideology. Jadavpur University is a place for free thought. But in the name of free thought, there cannot be hooliganism. Just imagine how difficult it becomes for the administration to function under such conditions,” he added.
Unruly protests and campus unrest have long been a sore point for JU. A university official said repeated disruptions had become a stumbling block for the institution, which hesitates to take firm action.
Over the years, disruptive student agitations have taken several forms, sometimes culminating in administrative paralysis. The unrest forced then VC Souvik Bhattacharyya to resign in October 2013, barely 15 months into his tenure. Bhattacharyya stepped down after being gheraoed for over 50 hours by students who demanded the revocation of punishment awarded to two students accused of ragging a junior. The students had been suspended for one year and six months, respectively, after the UGC anti-ragging helpline sought a report from the university.
Bhattacharyya, a JU mechanical engineering graduate who had left his post as deputy director at IIT Kharagpur to take over as JU VC in 2012, was present on Saturday.
Bhattacharyya’s departure had been followed by the early exit of another VC, Abhijit Chakrabarti, who was forced to resign in January 2015 amid sustained student protests. The agitation began after police entered the campus on October 16, 2014, to rescue the confined vice-chancellor and his colleagues.
Following the back-to-back exits of two vice-chancellors due to campus unrest, a former JU vice-chancellor had told this newspaper: “JU has gone to the dogs.”
The most recent flashpoint occurred on March 1, 2025, when education minister Bratya Basu was allegedly harassed and heckled during a visit to the campus for a teachers’ association programme.
During the protest, a student was seen kicking Omprakash Mishra, a professor of international relations, after he advocated creating a passage for the minister to leave.
A student was injured when the minister’s car moved through a crowd of protesters.
At JU, a section of teachers has been accused of supporting unruly student protests.
Reacting to Chakraborty’s remarks, JU vice-chancellor Chiranjib Bhattacharjee said: “What the IIT director said about hooliganism is absolutely right. We are not utilising intellectual independence constructively. It is being misused, and the university earns a bad name.”