Kolkata: A day after violence in Jadavpur University (JU) between ABVP and SFI, West Bengal Finance Minister Swapan Dasgupta on Friday condemned the violence in the varsity and said that it would ‘tarnish the image of JU’.
Minister condemns campus violence
Issuing a video message, Dasgupta, expressing his anguish, said, “Yesterday or the day before I was telling the Vice-Chancellor and senior academic staff that often Jadavpur University gets into the news for all the wrong reasons. This time again something similar has happened. Such physical clash between two groups is very unfortunate as it brings bad name to the state and also the university to some extent.”
Speaking about the damage of the historic university emblem originally created by legendary artist Nandalal Bose, Dasgupta said it is ‘disrespecting the institution’s historic heritage’.
Political reactions intensify
On the other side, state Panchayat Minister Dilip Ghosh threatened to carry out more ‘surgical strikes’ at Jadavpur University if anti-national slogans are raised.
“The former Trinamool Congress (TMC) government had helped the anti-nationals to enter here. Our people had carried out surgical strikes there. The SFI office was demolished. If anti-national movements are seen there again then there will be surgical strikes again,” added Ghosh.
Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Sarbari Mukherjee, who had threatened bigger protests if the SFI leader didn't surrender in front of police, on Friday claimed that she had always advocated for peaceful protest.
