JU: ‘Azad Kashmir’, ‘Free Palestine’ graffiti, police presence spark fresh row
Graffiti in black proclaiming “Azad Kashmir” and “Free Palestine” was seen on a wall, but it was not known who or which organisation was behind it
The fracas at Kolkata’s Jadavpur University intensified again on Monday (March 10) when “Azad Kashmir” and “Free Palestine” graffiti were spotted on the campus.
The alleged entry of “plainclothes police personnel” into the university grounds also did not go down well with a section of the students and teachers though most classes and exams were held as per schedule on Monday.
10 days of unrest
The situation has been tense at Jadavpur University since March 1, when two students were injured after state Education Minister Bratya Basu’s car and another accompanying vehicle allegedly grazed past them during a Left protest on the campus.
An FIR was lodged against Basu and professor Om Prakash Mishra, who is also a TMC leader, in connection with the violence.
However, fresh trouble erupted on Monday when graffiti in black proclaiming “Azad Kashmir” and “Free Palestine” was seen on a wall near gate number three of the university, but it was not known who or which organisation was behind it.
Also read: West Bengal: Tension grips Jadavpur University campus day after violent protests
Blame game
JU’s Trinamool Chhatra Parishad unit president Kishalay Roy told PTI: “Some ultra-Left student outfits are behind this and more such graffiti can be spotted if one goes around the sprawling campus.”
SFI’s JU unit leader Abhinaba Basu denied the Leftist union’s hand in the graffiti. “We don’t support secessionist views though we are against the repression of minorities in BJP-ruled states,” he said, asserting that the CPI(M) student wing has a clear stand on the Palestine issue.
State BJP leader Dilip Ghosh, sharing a photo of the poster on X, wrote, “This poster is not from Kashmir; it is a poster on the walls of Jadavpur University. For years, these Maoist, separatist left-wing students have been nurtured with [government] funds & support. [Because] of such separatist activities, Bengalis are being viewed negatively across the country.”
Mishra, functionary of the TMC-leaning forum of academics, said, “We are against any poster and graffiti which support secessionist views.”
Discontent over police presence
In another development, activists of SFI and AIDSO, along with leading professor unions JUTA and ABUTA, claimed that around 30 police personnel in plainclothes entered the campus around 1 pm on Monday shortly after Mishra arrived and stayed till the afternoon hours when the classes were over.
Mishra came to the campus nine days after the March 1 campus protests by Left and ultra-Left students during the AGM of West Bengal College and University Professors Association (WBCUPA). He had been manhandled following the injury of students on March 1.
He was greeted with slogans like “BJP-TMC dictatorship se azadi” and “go back” by a section of Left-leaning students. SFI leader Souryadipto Roy claimed students got agitated after spotting plainclothes policemen on the campus and chanted slogans demanding the university be freed of intimidation by ruling TMC and the state administration.
“We refuse to participate in any discussion with the university administration till police personnel leave,” he said.
Also read: Bengal student protests escalate against stifling of campus democracy
Mishra denies knowledge of police presence
Mishra, however, claimed to have no knowledge of police presence and said he had not intimated police about his arrival and did not need any security at his “own university”, among his students and fraternity.
JUTA General Secretary Partha Pratim Roy told PTI: “We don’t welcome the presence of police on the campus, uniformed or in plainclothes. We and the students had the information about the presence of several police personnel in civil clothes. As we and several senior teachers took up the issue with university authorities and also persuaded the agitating students not to escalate the issue, the matter did not go out of control.”
The All Bengal University Teachers Association (ABUTA) office-bearer and senior JU faculty member Goutam Maity also said there were reports about the presence of police in plainclothes on the campus during the presence of Mishra “which was unfortunate”.
Police ‘not called’
A senior university official, however, said the police were not called to the campus and the authorities had no information about their presence inside.
“Police have been present outside the campus and keeping vigil since March 1,” he said.
The students handed over their charter of demands, including student union polls and campus safety, to university officials. “We hope classes will fully resume from tomorrow,” JUTA General Secretary Roy added.
(With agency inputs)