By Tirthankar Mitra
Jadavpur University campus in Kolkata is no stranger to violence. It has long been a citadel of Left politics, a hallowed establishment that had no place for BJP’s right-wing ideology for as long as it has existed, something the recent violence by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) goons arguably has tried to ‘set right’.
The attempt on the part of saffron camp activists to bulldoze into JU is part of a campaign to bring such prestigious higher educational institutions under the burgeoning number of organisations owing allegiance to the Hindutva ideology, post the BJP’s electoral triumph in West Bengal earlier this year. However, the crude endeavour of the ABVP has hit headlines and invited a barrage of criticism.
Neither the majority of students nor teachers of Jadavpur University are inclined towards the BJP ideology. And trying to arm-twist them into kowtowing will certainly backfire on the saffron camp.
Jadavpur University students have good reasons for turning away from rightist politics. Located almost cheek by jowl next to the refugee colonies dotting Jadavpur University campus, academics and students alike have drawn inspiration from leftwing politics espousing the cause of the have-nots.
The social science courses at JU are often a refreshing change from the staid syllabi of other universities; the JU courses encourage free thinking. Even the students of the engineering faculties have over the years supported the left ideology.
Set up in the halcyon days of freedom struggle, Jadavpur University has been an institution of academic excellence, at which Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, who never had any soft spot for the saffron ideology, started his teaching career. The students of the then fledgling institution have always had a penchant for left politics, be it within the electoral system, or outside of it.
Arguably, the recent violence at the Jadavpur University campus is an attempt on part of ABVP, the students wing of the RSS, to gain foothold at this left bastion. Strangely enough, the state BJP chief and Rajya Sabha member Samik Bhattacharya has denied any connection between his party and the ABVP.
His denial cuts little ice. In fact, Bhattacharya’s contention appears to be almost identical with a section of CPI(M) leadership, who stated SFI and DYFI, the students and youth wing of the Marxist outfit, had nothing to do with the party whose writ had earlier run the state for 34 years, until 2011.
The incident at the sprawling Jadavpur University campus last week found support at even the state governmental level. An emphatic nod for the nocturnal flare-up came from state panchayat minister, Dilip Ghosh, who said student activists considered the university premises to be “an island which is not a part of the nation and where anti-national slogans are loudly voiced”.
Ghosh, a leader not in the habit of mincing his words, said there are shake-ups once a change of power occurs. Obviously, the panchayat minister was referring to the post-election change of power, which ushered in a saffron tide sweeping away even a leader of the stature of Mamata Banerjee.
But there are dissenting voices. State finance minister Swapan Dasgupta, inarguably an erudite man, condemned the damage to the symbol to the university designed by none other than the eminent artist, the late Nandalal Bose. The incident of vandalising a symbol designed by Bose didn’t ruffle any feathers in the mindset of Ghosh, a veteran RSS activist.
But Dasgupta’s stand found support from his Cabinet colleague, state urban development minister, Agnimitra Paul. Voicing her condemnation in no uncertain terms, she said it does not matter whether who barged into the JU campus in the dead of night last week, and that their intentions and actions were a condemnable, even though they belonged to her own party.
Interestingly, it took more than a day and 13 hours for the JU vice-chancellor, Chiranjib Bhattacharjee, to lodge a police complaint. The verdict is split whether the university authorities were weighing their options in the first ever saffron regime in West Bengal, as the youth who had stormed into the campus in the wee hours of the night made no secret of their affinity for the BJP ideology, or mustering up courage to lodge a complaint against those ABVP violence-mongers.
But in sum, the seven-decade-old Jadavpur University stood with its hallowed face besmirched, after what ABVP activists described as “surgical strike” against “cockroaches”. The attack was directed against left students’ organisations, while the Kolkata Police reaction has been till date feeble so far, given there are no arrests.
State BJP leaders have provided statements, alleging that the trouble can be traced to some students of engineering and technology faculties trying to form a union, a move which was opposed by the ABVP.
The deterioration of education standards in West Bengal is often laid at the door of student politics and campus violence emanating from it. A curb on students’ union has been suggested from some quarters.
However, it has also been pointed out that such a move would only lead to clamping on the legitimate grievances of the students. The agitation of students must not be allowed to be hijacked by political foot soldiers. Students activism must be reimagined by students, universities and political parties.
But as for Jadavpur University, the result of the joust between ABVP and the left students unions now hangs in balance. It remains to be seen whether it is tilted by the support of the powers that be in the state.
Jadavpur University is a centre of academic excellence. But regrettably for quite some time now it will be in the news for the ignominious campus conflict. (IPA Service)
