"Will protest throughout state against ragging": BJP youth wing protests death of student at Jadavpur University
Aug 18, 2023
Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], August 18 : Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) protest against the alleged death of a student at Jadavpur University was blocked by the Kolkata police on Friday.
The BJP youth leaders said that the rulling Trinamool Congress (TMC) was jittery over the presence of the crowd at the BJYM protest site so it has muzzled the protest. BJYM now plans to hold further protests throughout the state.
"Our protest was going on very peacefully and we have only one demand, that of zero tolerance to ragging and drugs, but the TMC government has objection to our protest. In the last two days, we have got support from a large section of society. Law and order is a state subject. TMC is in power for the last twelve and a half years. Ragging is going on in the University for several years but no steps have been taken to curb it" a BJYM leader said.
BJP state chief Suvendu Adhikari criticised the TMC government for its action against the BJYM protestors. In a post on X (formerly Twitter) he said "The 'established' Student bodies of Jadavpur University, the Administration, the Police & the Education Department are complicit in the student's death. Everyone is rattled by the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha's agitation, who are determined to weed out the anti national & anti social elements from the University Campus".
Suvendu Adhikari also accused the Chief Minister of being soft on student groups "Mamata Banerjee is in tacit understanding with these so-called "rival" Students' groups (all part of the I.ND.I. Alliance), who enjoy unmonitored & unjustified facilities within the University Campus in exchange for rolling out the "No Vote to BJP" campaign before elections."
Suvendu Adhikari has also lodged an FIR claiming that he was attacked by miscreants while visiting Jadavpur on Thursday.
"Yesterday, I visited Jadavpur to attend an event organized by the BJYM. While exiting the venue, around 5:40 pm, I was suddenly attacked by a group of unknown assailants, who managed to breach security and were shouting slogans and brandishing black flags. The unknown miscreants belonged to the “Revolutionary Students Federation,” an Ultra-Left frontal organisation of the banned Maoist outfit" Suvendu Adhikari said.
He alleged that the attack appeared to be a response of the members of the organisations, who didn't like the fact that he minced no words in his speech and called out their hypocrisy. "These people are part of a group who have made Jadavpur University a den of anti-national and anti-social activities. They harbour anti-establishment and secessionist ideologies, who are always criticizing the Govt, but at the same time clinging on to the Institution, even after their formal association is over, to keep on enjoying the subsidised benefits meant for the students."
The TMC hit back at the BJP with party spokesperson Kunal Ghosh saying " Suvendu Adhikari made some insulting remarks about the police and to divert attention now he is making baseless allegations. BJYC wing members turned violent and had a scuffle with the police so the police took right action to block the protest".
Meanwhile Congress leader Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury also demanded a thorough investigation into the death of the student.
"This is very unfortunate. A thorough investigation should happen in the case. Stringent steps should be taken so that such incidents don't happen. The police is also very slow, I think they must swing into action. No steps are taken before the incident in Bengal, everything happens after the incident occurs" he said.
On Thursday Meanwhile Jadavpur University (JU) authorities on Thursday rolled out various measures to ensure student safety on campus like making identity cards mandatory for visitors to enter the campus at night and installing CCTVs at strategic points.