Those Who Vandalised Jadavpur University Campus To Be Punished: Trinamool Minister

The Trinamool Congress on Friday stuck to its stand that West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar's visit to the Jadavpur University campus during the agitation there on Thursday was unfortunate and the chancellor must give justice to the vice-chancellor, professors and students who were assaulted. The governor is also the chancellor of the Jadavpur University where Union minister Babul Supriyo was on Thursday shown black flags and heckled by a section of students, prompting Dhankhar to rush to the institute.

Trinamool Congress secretary general and Education Minister Partha Chatterjee maintained that the administration played a very peaceful role to resolve the problem amicably. "On behalf of the Trinamool Congress, we stand by what we had said yesterday regarding the Jadavpur University episode. We always respect the post of the governor because it is a Constitutional post," Chatterjee said in a statement.

"We expect that the governor will give justice to vice-chancellor, professors and students. We are always with the teachers and the student communities," he added. His comments come hours after Dhankar on Friday justified his visit to Jadavpur University to rescue Union minister Babul Supriyo, contending that he had waited a “sufficient time” for the state to resolve the matter and left for the institute as the situation did not improve.

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"The administration played a very peaceful role to resolve the problem amicably. We must punish the culprits who assaulted the students including girls and ransacked the campus," Chatterjee said in reference to the alleged vandalism by ABVP activists both inside and outside the institute.

The senior TMC leader expressed solidarity with the vice-chancellor, professors and students of the university and wished speedy recovery of the VC Suranjan Das who had fallen sick during the agitation and was hospitalised.

The police were outside the university, but were unable to enter the campus in the absence of any communication from the VC and the governor went there without taking the state government into confidence, Chatterjee who was the state education minister said. He said universities are autonomous institutions and as per time-honoured tradition, the police cannot enter the campus without the permission of the VC.

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"It’s an apparent failure of the state police administration in attending to the situations appropriately," a statement from the Raj Bhavan said here on Friday. Dhankar also faced demonstrations by the agitators - mostly members of Left-leaning organisations and some activists of the Trinamool Congress Chhatra Parishad on Thursday, university sources said.

The governor and Supriyo, however, managed to leave the campus with police escort later. Workers of the ABVP, who had held a seminar in the campus which sparked off the unrest at the university, later vandalised the room of the Arts Faculty Students Union.