Mamata Banerjee showing remarkable restraint over Jadavpur University protests: TMC MP

NEW DELHI: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has shown remarkable restraint despite the attack on Education Minister Bratya Basu by Left-wing students on the Jadavpur University campus, TMC MP Saayoni Ghosh said. Ghosh, the MP of Jadavpur constituency, said if the situation on the campus continues to remain as it is, the reputation of the varsity will slide to a point of no return.

"Mamata Banerjee is showing remarkable patience and restraint despite provocations by the Left-wing students, who are disrupting the situation on the campus. Due to the patience shown by the CM, police are not entering the campus despite the attack on the minister. JU has always been known for its liberal values and high academic standards," she told reporters on the sidelines of a TMC programme on Saturday. "But if such hooliganism by SFI and Naxals continues, the day is not far that the reputation of the varsity slides to a point of no return. We don't wish that to happen," she added.

Clash during education minister’s visit

Demonstrations at Jadavpur University demanding the long-pending students' union elections escalated on March 1 when the education minister was visiting the campus to attend an event. Amid attempts to gherao him, Basu's convoy allegedly grazed past two students, injuring them. Basu, however, alleged that he was injured when the protesting students vandalised his car's windshield.

Reacting to the MP's statement, CPI(M) central committee member Sujan Chakraborty said TMC leaders were competing with each other to make provocative statements to get "promotion" within the party. "These statements show the anti-democratic and autocratic nature of the TMC but the students' community of the state will not be intimidated by such rabble-rousers," he said.

The Left-wing students' groups have been maintaining that in the absence of elected students' unions in the colleges and universities, there is no space left for students to let their views known to the authorities, besides, it has opened the path for corruption.