Kolkata : Ever since the Governor of West Bengal, Jagdeep Dhankhar, took it upon himself to rescue Babul Supriyo from the wrath agitating students at Jadavpur University yesterday despite the chief minister Mamata Banerjee urging him not to do so, the state has found in him a proactive Governor, or so it seems. Dhankhar took on Trinamool Congress government and even antagonised it on several issues concerning the state of law and order in the state.
The case at hand is the recent ruckus at Jadavpur University (JU) where the Governor, who is also the Chancellor of the University, despite chief minister’s severe objections went there and rescued a beleaguered Union minister Babul Supriyo from unruly students who heckled and harassed the latter when he came to honour an invitation from ABVP to deliver a speech in one of their seminars.
Soon after taking power as Governor of West Bengal on 2 September, Dhankhar paid a visit to Arjun Singh, a BJP MP from Barrackpore who got injured in a clash with the police. The TMC put him in the dock accusing him of playing second fiddle to the saffron party.
Political observers feel that the stand off between Governor and West Bengal government would increase in the upcoming months as the proactive governor would take action as soon as any things get out of control .
Maidul Islam a senior political analysts said : “We feel that the Governor has done the right thing at the right moment. It’s necessary for him to visit the spot at a time when student unrest has reached its helm and a Union minister was heckled and held hostage by students for several hours.”
Meanwhile, according to political observes Thursday’s tussle at Jadavpur University resulted from ABVP’s determined and concerted efforts to take control of the majority ultra Left bastion in Jadavpur University which remained invincible for the Trinamool Congress.
Biswanath Chakraborty, a senior professor of Political Science at Rabindra Bharati University said: “This incident at JU clearly reflects that ABVP is trying to take control of the majority Left backed students union at JU. Although the incident is just the tip of the iceberg, but it seems that the ABVP is desperately trying to get a foothold in JU after BJP bagged 18 seats in Bengal in the Lok Sabha polls.”
Stand off between Governor and West Bengal government continues
With the stand off between the Governor and the West Bengal still on, statements and counter statements from both the parties continued.
After state education minister Partha Chatterjee said that Governor went to JU without informing the state government, the governor’s office on Friday issued a statement “Before his visit to the University, the Governor and Chancellor, exhausted all possible avenues that could bring an end to the unsavoury spectacle by flagging the issue to the DGP and the Chief Secretary. As a final step before going, the Governor/Chancellor took initiative in connecting with the Hon’ble Chief Minister, West Bengal, and duly apprised her of the grave situation and the consequences it may entail,” it reads.
The statement mentions “There were many telephonic interactions between the two and in his high regard that the Governor/Chancellor has for the Hon’ble CM, personally and for the Office the CM holds, he would not like to divulge the conversation between the two, except that he left for the place after sufficient time had elapsed and the situation did not show any change. The Governor, in his capacity as Chancellor of the University, is the guardian of all students and their well being would ever be uppermost in his mind,”
Replying to the Governor’s statement on Friday, the Trinamool Congress said: “We always respect the post of Governor because it is a constitutional post. We expect the Governor to give justice to Vice Chancellor, professors and students. We are always with the teachers and student communities. Administration played a very peaceful role to resolve the problem amicably. We must punish the culprits who assaulted the students, including the girl students of Jadavpur University and ransacked the campus. We express our total solidarity with the Vice Chancellor, professors and students of the university. We wish speedy recovery of the VC and Pro VC. One thing must be made very clear: universities are autonomous institutions and as per time-honoured tradition, police cannot enter university campus without the permission of VC.”
On Thursday after visiting the campus Dhankhar said that the Union minister is under a “gherao” by a section of students of JU. He asked the chief secretary to initiate prompt action. He spoke to Vice Chancellor Suranjan Das and told him that it was improper for him not to take any prompt steps in the matter.
He mentioned that the situation was a very serious refection on the law and order in the state .
Partha Chatterjee state education minister said: “This is most unfortunate and shocking that our governor, the custodian of the Constitution of state without informing the elected government went to rescue BJP leader from JU.”
According to Chatterjee, some unfortunate incident happened between BJP students’ wing and JU students. The state police was waiting outside the university, but were unable to enter in the absence of any communication from the VC. The governor went there without taking the state government into confidence. On his way, he rang up the CM. The CM requested him several times not to go there and give the government some time to peacefully solve the issue. Before going there, he released two press statements that I quote “this is a very serious reflection on the law and order in the state.” He did not comment on the vandalism perpetrated by BJP and ABVP goons in the Jadavpur University campus.
The TMC strongly opposes his political views. Neither the TMCP nor the police are involved in the incident. It is between the BJP and the Left.
So question of law and order does not arise. The state police facilitated in taking the BJP leader and the governor out of the troubled spot.
The vandalism perpetrated in Jadavpur University today by BJP goons is a stark reminder of what happened in the political rally in front of Calcutta University and vandalisation of the bust of Pandit Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar in Vidyasagar College before the Lok Sabha election. We do not have words to condemn such shocking acts of violence and trouble-mongering.
Dilip Ghosh, BJP state president, said: “Jadavpur University a hub of anti-nationals will be destroyed in a Balakot- like surgical strike. The students who have roughed up Supriyo are not only anti-national but also anti-social. I, as a politician, know what is the best medicine for them. If I would have been on the spot I would have broken their hands. Our governor has shown the courage to go inside the campus despite as state government refusing to take steps. We congratulate him for his courage. West Bengal government remained tight lipped as after 6 hours of manhandling by the students, there was no police protection from the state government. Ultimately Supriyo needed to contact the governor as he is the Chancellor of the University.”
It may be mentioned that VC of JU Suranjan Das who is currently admitted in a hospital in south Kolkata had said that he would not let police enter the campus .
Protests by ABVP and Arts Faculty Students Union(AFSU)
On Friday ABVP staged a protest from West Bengal BJP state office demanding that the students who roughed up Supriyo and also manhandled another BJP leader Agnimitra Paul be brought to the book. AFSU held a rally on JU campus in protest against police entry into the campus. BJP leader Mukul Roy went to meet the governor, students of JU also complained at Jadavpur police station as their union room was vandalised by the ABVP supporters. They also condemned yesterday’s incident.
Tamoghna Banerjee a student of AFSU said ” We will continue our protest as we feel that there is no right for an Union minister to misbehave with us . He spoke many abusive languages against us and we condemn such statement . As out union room has been vandalised by ABVP supporters we have lodged a complaint at Jadavpur police station.”