07/03/2025
On 1st March, a horrific incident took place at Jadavpur university, West Bengal. The education minister of the state, Mr. Bratya Basu, drove his car into the students of the university, when they were protesting with the demand of holding long withheld Students' Union election. The minister was attending a programme in the university, organised by the Professors' wing of the ruling TMC party. When the students attempted to meet him and discuss the demands, ruling party goons physically assaulted them. Moreover, the education minister ran his car over the protesting students in order to escape from the university, without paying heed to the demands. Several students were injured in the clash; one student was critically injured and is still under treatment.
But surprisingly, just after the incident, several FIRs were lodged against the students, including serious charges of attempted murder, arson, destruction of Govt property, molestation etc. In fact the critically injured student was booked as the prime accused. One student was arrested on those charges later in the midnight and was sentenced to 10 days of police custody. When the students tried to lodge FIRs against the education minister as well as against the ruling party goons, the Police refused to comply.
Several students' organisations called for a university strike throughout West Bengal on 3rd March in response to the incident, demanding prosecution of the minister as well as other TMC henchmen and calling for immediate students' union elections. Throughout the state, the ruling party cadres as well the state police brutally attacked the striking students on that day. Some students were taken into police custody too. Afterwards, events of custodial torture perpetrated by the WB police have also come forth. In Midnapore district, an Adibasi woman student was brutally tortured by the police in the custody.
RSYC strongly condemns the education minister and the ruling TMC's deeds. RSYC also condemns the gross misuse of power by the state police. In the recent years, we have seen rising authoritarian and Fascist attacks on the spaces of dissent, be it in university campuses or in general society throughout the country. The whole of the state machinery is acting in a concerted manner to hunt the dissenting voices down. It is not surprising to see that in light of the incidents of Jadavpur University, the WB state unit of the opposition BJP is infact calling for harsher measures to be taken against the students and are justifying their demand by claiming the said university to be an 'urban Naxal' hub.
In lieu with the neoliberal policy diktat, the ruling party of West Bengal, in their efforts to depoliticise the college-university campuses, had withhold Students' union elections for the last 8 years. Students' union is the primary representative body of the students in a campus and is an essential democratic institution for raising the dissent as well as the just demands of the students. Curbing its existence is nothing short of an authoritarian dictatorial maneouvre. Not only in West Bengal, we have seen similar efforts nationally and in other states to quell the voice of the students and to depoliticise the broad student masses. In an education system where the sole aim is to produce skilled-semi skilled cheap and docile workforce for the labor market, this seems to be an easier path for the ruling class of the country. RSYC calls for holding immediate students' union election in the state of West Bengal.
Our Demands-
1) Immediately hold Students' Union election in the state of West Bengal.
2) Remove Bratya Basu as Education Minister and initiate criminal proceedings against him and TMC goons involved in the attacks on the students.
3) Impartially investigate the police atrocities incurred upon the students and punish the responsible police officers.
4) Withdraw all false FIRs against the protesting students and release the arrested student unconditionally.
In solidarity, RSYC
7/3/25