The police response during the violent confrontation at Kolkata’s Jadavpur University has come under scrutiny, with students alleging that security personnel failed to intervene decisively as clashes, stone-pelting and vandalism unfolded on the campus late Wednesday night.
Several injured students were eventually taken to KPC Medical College and Hospital for treatment. BJP MLA Sarbori Mukherjee reportedly visited the injured students at the hospital.
Students who had taken shelter inside Aurobindo Bhavan, however, said reaching the hospital was difficult despite the medical facility being located directly across the road from the university.
Students question police action
Students inside the campus alleged that police personnel remained largely passive during the confrontation and did not do enough to prevent the situation from escalating.
Some students also alleged that FIRs were registered against people who had themselves been attacked during the violence. The claims could not immediately be independently verified, and the exact number of FIRs, as well as the sections invoked, remained unclear.
The allegations have added another layer to the controversy, with questions being raised over the police response and the handling of the situation inside the university.
Crowd disperses after hours of tension
The confrontation continued well into the early hours of Thursday.
According to students present on campus, the crowd began dispersing between around 2.50 am and 3 am. They said police eventually moved people away from the university premises, allowing the situation to gradually return to normal after several hours of tension.
The violence, however, left the campus shaken and intensified an already bitter political confrontation between rival student organisations.
Political battle continues
The fallout continued on Thursday, with the ABVP announcing a protest at 11 am. Its leaders said legal action and FIRs were being pursued against several people in connection with the violence.
Left student organisations also announced protests, accusing ABVP and RSS supporters of attempting to establish control over the university campus.
The ABVP has rejected allegations that its supporters brought outsiders into the university and has instead accused Left organisations of orchestrating an attack on its members.
Left groups, meanwhile, have maintained that ABVP and NSF supporters brought outsiders onto the campus and were responsible for escalating the violence.
With both sides continuing to blame each other, the Jadavpur University clash has exposed deepening tensions between competing student organisations.
The immediate focus now is likely to remain on the injured students, the police investigation and the FIRs filed in connection with the violence, while competing political groups prepare for further demonstrations on campus.
