Pro-TMC platform calls rampage by Left-wing students on JU campus 'pre-planned conspiracy'

NEW DELHI: A pro-Trinamool Congress platform of academics in West Bengal on Sunday described the violence at Jadavpur University campus as a "pre-planned conspiracy" to malign the esteemed institution and condemned the "heckling" of education minister Bratya Basu and the physical assault of varsity teachers by left and ultra-left student protestors.

Educationists Forum spokesperson and former head of the institute's international relations department, Omprakash Mishra, told PTI that "a section of left and ultra-left student activists caused chaos at the West Bengal College and University Professors' Association (WBCUPA) annual general meeting (AGM) on Saturday, despite requests from organisers and Basu to discuss their demands in front of the vice-chancellor once the meeting was over.

Mishra added, "The student protestors disrupted proceedings repeatedly during the annual general meeting and even went on a rampage at the venue, but WBCUPA members showed patience and did not react. We did not fall into their provocations."

"Instead of being good hosts, they tried to malign the institution which had given all necessary approvals for holding the WBCUPA meeting. They heckled the education minister before the whole world. They even did not spare the officiating vice-chancellor, Bhaskar Gupta, and tore his shirt when he visited a private medical college and hospital to meet one of the injured students," he alleged.

WBCUPA members show restraint amid protests

Mishra claimed that besides himself, English department head Manojit Mondal and several other senior teachers associated with WBCUPA were severely beaten up by the protesting students.

"It was clear from their behaviour that they did not wish to have any discussion on the student union polls or any other issues but only create chaos, disturbances, and intimidate us," he added.

Mishra, a former VC of North Bengal University, said although a seminar on 'Saffronisation of Education' and another on corporatisation of education vis-a-vis the New Education Policy were scheduled at the AGM, with a guest list of eminent names, "it was obvious the left and ultra-left student protesters did not believe in what they preach in public and disrupted the seminar." He added that the forum opposed the strike call given by SFI in colleges and universities on Monday and asked everyone to "facilitate smooth running of the institutions." Earlier, WBCUPA condemned the rampage by Left student activists on the university campus.

Left and Ultra-Left Student Activists Disrupt Seminar on Education Policy

WBCUPA associate secretary and state committee member, Syed Tanveer Nasreen, told PTI that the unruly elements in the garb of students belonging to Left outfits "deflated" the tyres of the minister's car when it arrived on the campus and went on a rampage inside the venue on the campus on Saturday. "They disrupted the peaceful atmosphere on the campus and barged into the venue of the meeting attended by college and university teachers coming from across the state.

The way these protesting students behaved is nothing but lumpenism. Their conduct is so unlike real students," Nasreen said. Members of CPI(M) student wing SFI and Naxalite AISA gheraoed minister Basu and damaged his vehicle's windscreen at Jadavpur University on Saturday, demanding student union election dates.

As Basu tried to speak with the protesters while leaving, around 100 students surrounded him, smashing his vehicle's windscreen and rearview mirror and showed shoes, . The minister was later taken to SSKM Hospital for treatment of uneasiness and cuts on his left hand from broken glass.