BJP Rajya Sabha MP Swapan Dasgupta calls for de-politicization of educational institutions on Thursday. This comes a day after he was gheraoed for close to five hours inside an auditorium on Vishwa Bharati University(VHU) campus in Shantiniketan in Birbhum district. “Isn’t it evident? We have crossed the laxman rekha. This meaningless politics on campus must stop. This is for all political parties, not just one or two of them.” said Swapan Dasgupta.
He also added that the situation in West Bengal is grave and that it must start from here while hinting at a code of conduct in educational institutions. The Rajya Sabha MP also said that a conspiracy is being spread on social media. “There is a conspiracy on social media ahead of the Prime Minister’s visit that he should not be allowed to come outside the airport. A Minister too is involved in this conspiracy. This is also being talked about in the student community to gather maximum people. People should be aware of this conspiracy.” Said Dasgupta.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit Kolkata on 11th January for the 150th celebrations of Kolkata Port Trust(KoPT). The PM’s visit is expected to run into protests by social and political outfits over the National Register of Citizen (NRC) and Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) issue.
Dasgupta was invited to VHU for a lecture titled ‘CAA 2019: Understanding and Interpretations’. Left leaning students were protesting outside the Lipika auditorium before Dasgupta was to arrive at 3:00pm on Wednesday. The lecture was then shifted to the Social Sciences building which protesters managed to reach later after breaking the locks at the gate and gheraoing the building till after 9:00pm. The protests come at a time when there is strong opposition across the country on the NRC and CAA issue.
