Violence Erupts at Jadavpur University as Left and Right Wing Students Clash

KOLKATA: Tensions mounted at Jadavpur University in Kolkata following a nightlong clash between the Left-leaning students and the RSS-backed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) students. Several students belonging to both camps were admitted to the nearby KPC Medical College Hospital sustaining injuries. Denying the involvement of the Students' Federation of India (SFI), in the clash, Srijan Bhattacharya, all India secretary of the CPI-M-backed students’ union, alleged that the ABVP men created trouble by sponsoring attacks on students when the governing body meeting was held on Wednesday night. No SFI students were there during the incident, Srijan told the media. The trouble started on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday when the governing body meeting called by the Left-backed student unions and the Faculty of Engineering and Technology Students Union (FETSU) was held inside the campus. ABVP men protested against the meeting being held inside the campus and got involved in a clash with the Left students. The agitating ABVP supporters alleged that the Left student union called the meeting at a time when there was no elected union in the university campus. They raised questions saying, “How did they hold the meeting when there is no notification issued by the state government for holding students’ union elections?” Videos circulating on WhatsApp showed a group of men allegedly belonging to the ABVP trying to break into locked facilities while raising slogans, sources said. Several individuals from both sides sustained injuries in the altercation. Local police had to rush to the spot to prevent the situation from escalating further.