Eleven former and current students of Jadavpur University have been arrested for allegedly ragging and sexually harassing a first-year undergraduate student who died after falling from a second-floor balcony of the main hostel building last week. The incident has also triggered a political slugfest with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee blaming the Left-backed student bodies over the incident.
Senior BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari on Friday said the Jadavpur University campus needs to be freed of “anti-national elements”. The leader of the opposition, who along with other party MLAs met the family of the 17-year-old boy in Nadia district, also said they would demand that Education Minister Bratya Basu table an action taken report on the incident in the assembly.
Suvendu Adhikari files complaint
Activists of ultra-left Revolutionary Students Federation (RSF) and BJP's Yuva Morcha fought a pitched battle with motorcycle helmets and flags before gate number four of Jadavpur University which had been witnessing a series of protests since August 10 following the death of the student. A day after the scuffle, Suvendu Adhikari lodged a police complaint alleging a "premeditated attack" on him by the Naxalite outfit.
The Nandigram MLA said "The attack appeared to be a response of the members of the said organisation who didn't like the fact that I minced no words in my 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 government, 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."
