By Atri Mitra
FRESH violence broke out on the Jadavpur University (JU) campus in Kolkata on Monday evening when members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) allegedly tried to enter the campus and Students Federation of India (SFI) supporters tried to stop them, resulting in injuries to several persons in both groups, police said.
According to the police, it was not part of the ABVP’s initial plan to enter the university campus and they were stopped at least one kilometre away. However, after the rally, some ABVP supporters went to gate number 3 of the university. As the security guards tried to stop them, a group of SFI supporters also reached the spot, police said.
Later, a large police contingent was deployed to control the situation.
The SFI, All India Democratic Students’ Organisation (AIDSO) and other Left organisations had called for a strike at universities and colleges on Monday to protest Saturday’s incident where a student was injured after being grazed by Education minister Bratya Basu’s car on the JU campus amid protests by students and SFI supporters.
On Monday, student protesters alleged that they were attacked by the police or the Trinamool Congress Chhatra Parishad (TMCP) in different areas. In Siliguri, members of AIDSO alleged that they were attacked by TMCP supporters. At Midnapore Vidyasagar university, SFI members were allegedly targeted by the police.
Members of TMCP and the Leftist student bodies exchanged blows at Vidyasagar University and Medinipur College in Paschim Medinipur district, Panskura Banamali College in Purba Medinipur and North Bengal University in Siliguri as the TMCP activists tried to prevent the Leftist students from enforcing the strike and suspension of classes.
This story was originally published in indianexpress.com. Read the full story here.
