Jadavpur University (JU) on Tuesday afternoon virtually woke up to take initiatives to probe the Saturday’s incident of violence inside the university campus causing bleeding injuries to two protesting students.
The protests erupted following campus violence on 1 March, when two students, including Indranuj Roy and Abhinab Basu were injured after the car of the education minister Bratya Basu’s convoy allegedly grazed past them during a melee on the same day.
Today, the acting vice-chancellor (VC) Prof Bhaskar Gupta came to his office and proposed teachers’ bodies like Jadavpur University Teachers’ Association (JU) and Trinamul Congress-backed West Bengal College University Professors Association (WBCUPA) for a judicial inquiry to probe the incident, which happened on 1 March. Prof. Gupta sat on a meeting with the teachers’ organisations and discussed how to restore normalcy inside the JU campus.
Senior administrative officials of the university were also present in the meeting. The VC could not come to the campus on Monday owing to illness after the incident.
The long-standing demand of the students for holding students’ union elections in the university was also discussed in the meeting today.
Teachers belonging to the JUTA demanded that the university authorities lodge FIR against the minister but the WBCUPA members protested against the demand, sources said.
The proposal for the judicial probe made by the VC was accepted in the meeting.
Protests continued for the second consecutive day today over alleged assaults on students of the JU, demanding resignation of the education minister and withdrawal of police complaints against them.
Amid the unrest, Mr Basu personally reached out to the family members of the injured student Indranuj, who is undergoing treatment in a private hospital close to the JU and expressed regret over the incident.
“The education minister called me. He is remorseful and has expressed regret. He wished for Indranuj’s speedy recovery. He said that he and his wife are deeply distressed. He also said that Indranuj is like his son,” Prof Amit Roy, the student’s father, told reporters.
The incident occurred as CPI-M-backed SFI and other Left-leaning students attempted to prevent the minister from leaving the campus, demanding discussions on the conduct of students’ union elections which were not held for several years.
Mr Basu himself allegedly sustained injuries when his car’s windshield was damaged during the protest.
Following a general body meeting on Monday night, students set a 24-hour deadline for the VC to return to campus and address their demands, warning of intensified protests if he fails to do so.
They also insisted that the university bear the full cost of medical treatment for the injured students.