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Following clashes on Jadavpur University campus over the screening of a film, West Bengal Governor Kesari Nath Tripathi Saturday said the university was “fast turning into a centre for disturbance”. “The university, which was once known as a centre for excellence, is fast turning into a centre for disturbance. The authorities should take stern action,” Tripathi, who is Chancellor of the state-run varsity, said.
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His remarks came even as the university administration lodged an FIR in connection with clashes over the screening of Buddha In A Traffic Jam on Friday. The complaint alleges that four outsiders — three of them ABVP activists — molested students after the open-air screening of the film.
Vice-chancellor Suranjan Das said, “We have lodged an FIR against outsiders who were caught by our students and handed over to police. Police has to act now. We did everything on our part.”
Das also blamed organisers for screening the Vivek Agnihotri film on campus “without prior permission”. “As per rules, any organisation has to take permission from us to hold programmes on the campus. But they did not take permission,” he said.
The organisers had booked Triguna Sen auditorium for the screening. But when JU’s alumni association, which runs the auditorium, cancelled the booking, the film was screened in the open.
After the screening, ABVP supporters clashed with activists from Left-backed student outfits. Some students sustained minor injuries in the clash, said officials.
“Around 5.15 pm, Vivek Agnihotri addressed ABVP supporters. We couldn’t recognise any of them as JU students. We showed them black flags and raised slogans against saffronisation. There was a scuffle, but we backed out as we thought they should be allowed to express themselves. The film was screened without any disruption,” said Titir Chakraborty, assistant general secretary of the JU Arts students’ association.
After the screening, Titir alleged, ABVP supporters approached her and other women students and assaulted them. “They pushed us and touched us inappropriately. They started running away when others came to our rescue. We managed to catch four of them.”
ABVP state president Raman Trivedi met the Governor Saturday and claimed that the cases filed against Debashish Chaudhury, Sandeep, Partha Chakraborty and Tanmay Basak were false. “We also asked him to look into anti-national activities going on in JU,” he said.
(With PTI inputs)
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