Intellectuals condemn violence, arson in JU
Kolkata: Intellectuals in the city expressed concern over the act of vandalism and arson at Jadavpur University while the Left students' wing organised a protest rally from the campus to Golpark to protest against the ransacking of their union room by Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the BJP student wing.
The Jadavpur University Teachers' Association (JUTA) extending solidarity, issued a press statement stating that the behaviour of Union minister Babul Supriyo was provocative and that aggravated the situation.
"Students were staging protest against the Union minister's arrival in the campus but it snowballed into violence in the campus and this has not only astonished us but have made us concerned," read the statement issued by intellectuals under the banner of Citizens Speak India.
It was undersigned by actor Aparna Sen, Kaushik Sen, Parambrata Chattopadhyay, singer Anupam Roy, Rupam Islam to name a few and they also questioned Supriyo's behaviour with the agitating students (though they did not name anybody or any political party).
AFSU with support from the SFI on Friday conducted a rally from Jadavpur University campus to Golpark where they raised their voice against the acts of vandalism and stated that Supriyo had misbehaved with the students while they were protesting which led to such an untoward incident.
"We never let the BJP, the RSS and the ABVP spread their ideologies in a liberal institute like Jadavpur University. The way students have extended solidarity to the protest rally makes it evident that they condemn the act of the ABVP," said Ushasi Pal, an AFSU member. AFSU also lodged an FIR at Jadavpur police station against the ABVP members.
The JUTA, in their press statement, condemned the language that was used by the Union minister while Vice-Chancellor Suranjan Das intervened. "We are also grieved with the role played by Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar in the episode," the statement read.
Meanwhile, V-C Suranjan Das who was admitted to ICU of a private hospital at Dhakuria on Thursday night was shifted to a normal cabin after his condition was deemed stable. Pro Vice-Chancellor Pradip Ghosh who was also admitted to the same hospital is also recovering fast.
Dr R K Dutta Roy, renowned internal medicine specialist and the supervising physician, said the accelerated hypertension in both their cases has been brought under control.
