Kolkata: With arguments, counter- arguments and passing the buck continuing over the tragic death of a fresher at Kolkata’s iconic Jadavpur University, allegedly due to psychological ragging on August 10, the real tragedy seems to be taking a backseat with a political slugfest taking centrestage.
After the incident on August 10, administrative action including a police probe were initiated in the first few days. On August 12, the first arrest in the case took place of an alumnus of the university, followed by the arrests of two students of JU on August 13.
Till August 13, the main topic of discussion was the administrative lapses on the part of the university authorities in failing to check the ragging menace and there was not much political colour in the matter.
But the matter taking a political turn started on the evening of August 14 as chief minister Mamata Banerjee, while addressing a public rally, had held the CPI(M) backed students of JU responsible for the tragedy. “Those who forced the poor fresher from the balcony of the students’ hostel were Marxists. Sometimes they are also with the Congress and sometimes with the BJP. There are some typical CPI(M) activists there, who even stripped the victim of his clothes. There is total terror there,” she said.
She claimed that the offenders even forced the victim to take off a religious thread from his arm. “These students act as if the university campus is a red fort. That is why I refrain from going to Jadavpur University,” the chief minister said.
Soon after her statements, the Trinamool Congress organized a rally near the university campus, where party legislator and member (mayor-in-council) of Kolkata Municipal Corporation Debasish Kumar warned the leftist students’ wings of restricting them within the JU campus and not allowing them to board vehicles from outside the campus.
That opened a political Pandora’s box with counter reactions coming in. Claiming that the students’ wings of ultra- left groups like Maoists and Naxalites are active in JU, CPI(M) politburo member and the party’s state secretary in West Bengal Md Salim said that once Mamata Banerjee had joined hands with the Maoists in Junglemahal for killing the CPI(M) activists. “She encouraged many CPI(M) deserters to join Trinamool Congress and some of them were even provided berths in the state cabinet. She is now trying to confuse everyone over this issue,” Salim said.
Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal Suvendu Adhikari also jumped into the fray accusing the chief minister of viewing the fresher’s death as an opportunity for her Trinamool Congress to gain control over JU. “JU is a place where the ruling party’s students’ wing has absolutely no existence despite the party being in power for 12 years. So this tragedy is being viewed by the chief minister as an opportunity of gaining political control there. On the one hand, she is accusing the students having affiliation with the CPI(M)’s students wing of being responsible for the tragedy; at the national level she is sharing the dais with CPI(M) leaders at the opposition INDIA alliance. This is nothing but political dichotomy,” said Adhikari.
In the midst of this political mudslinging, the police arrested six more persons on August 16, including three current and three former JU students in this connection. The University Grants Commission had sent two consecutive notices to the JU authorities seeking clarification on whether the anti-ragging guidelines set by the commission had been implemented in JU.
Observers feel that the high-level of political consciousness among the people of West Bengal often turns into a sort of hyper-sensitivity where everything is dictated by politics. “The reflection of such “political consciousness’ turning to “political hyper-sensitivity’ was reflected in the recently concluded panchayat polls which took a toll of over 50 lives. In the case of this fresher’s death the focus has shifted from discussions on remedial measures to a mindless political slugfest,” a city- based political observer said.
On late Friday evening, the investigating police officials arrested two more present students and one more former pupil, taking the total arrest figure to 12
–IANS