KOLKATA: Five FIRs have been registered, and one person has been arrested so far in connection with the violent clashes at Jadavpur University on Saturday.
Education minister Bratya Basu was heckled, his car was vandalised, and several professors were attacked.
On Saturday evening, violence erupted when students, primarily from ultra-left organizations, demanded that Basu announce student union election dates on the spot.
When the minister stated that he could not do so without consulting senior officials, tensions escalated. Protesters ransacked the venue, damaged his vehicle, assaulted professors, and later set fire to a university employees' office.
A student who fell in front of the minister’s car and sustained serious injuries is undergoing treatment at KPC Hospital. Former JU professor and ex-vice-chancellor Om Prakash Mishra was also attacked and manhandled by a group of students.
Several university professors, including WBCUPA members Monojit Mandal and Samir Chatterjee, suffered injuries during the scuffle.
Meanwhile, Left student leaders accused TMC-affiliated professors of instigating the violence.
“We only wanted to know when student elections would be held, but TMC supporters attacked us,” said one SFI leader
Later in the evening, student protesters gheraoed Jadavpur police station, while Left student unions and Trinamool workers held separate marches outside the university.
The Students' Federation of India (SFI) has called for a student strike on Monday in response to the clashes.
State education minister Bratya Basu said he had been open to dialogue.
“They could have presented their demands formally, but they chose disruption. Some students are attempting to obstruct WBCUPA’s campus activities. Is this campus democracy?” he asked.
He also clarified that he had instructed interim Vice-Chancellor Bhaskar Gupta not to call the police onto the campus.