AIDSO condemns Suvendu Adhikari’s ‘saffron flags’ remark on student elections

The Left-leaning students' organisation AIDSO on Saturday condemned West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari's comment that student elections would be held and "saffron flags of ABVP would fly everywhere", calling the statement "undemocratic and provocative". In a statement, AIDSO West Bengal state committee secretary Biswajit Roy said the chief minister had used a constitutional and administrative office to express what he described as a "narrow partisan position". Roy alleged that the previous state government had stalled the democratic process of student union elections, thereby facilitating a politics of campus capture.

"We have consistently demanded restoration of students' democratic rights and holding of student union elections," he said. Roy claimed that although the government had changed three months ago, AIDSO was already witnessing alleged attempts by the ABVP to gain control of campuses in different parts of the state with "administrative support". He claimed that despite the BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya's assertion that the ABVP has no organisational connection with the BJP, the government had remained silent over incidents of alleged campus takeovers.

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"The chief minister's statement has proved that the ABVP is under the patronage of the chief minister and the BJP," Roy alleged. Meanwhile, the All Bengal University Teachers' Association (ABUTA) on Monday alleged that the Jadavpur University authorities acted with "extraordinary promptness" to remove graffiti from the campus walls on Saturday in the wake of a deadline and threat issued by the chief minister, while failing to address "serious administrative lapses".

In a statement Monday evening, ABUTA general secretary Gautam Maiti alleged that the university's academic environment and autonomy were under severe threat due to repeated threats and attacks by political forces from outside the campus, allegedly with government patronage. The Left-leaning teachers' body said that while the chief minister had publicly targeted students and teachers over slogans and graffiti on university walls, he remained silent on the role of the vice-chancellor and the administration. "If the allegations made by the chief minister are true, they establish the failure of the university administration. Why then is the government not taking action against the administration?" ABUTA asked.

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The association alleged that the university administration had failed to prevent attacks by outsiders on August 19 and 20, and claimed that the vice-chancellor himself had acknowledged the failure at a meeting with stakeholders. ABUTA alleged various irregularities in the administration, including the election of members to the Executive Council - a matter over which it has approached the Calcutta High Court. The association said it had brought these issues to the notice of the Chancellor, chief minister and education minister in June this year, but alleged that the government had taken no action.