The alleged obscenity witnessed in the Rabindra Bharati university campus in connection with Holi festival is a clear indication of the cultural decadence that is being encouraged by Trinamul Congress (TMC) government, CPI-M said today.

“The vulgarity at the hallowed seat of learning point to a systematic attempt by the TMC to break the backbone of the student community of the state,” said CPI-M central committee member and Left Legislature party leader Sujan Chakraborty. Mr Chakraborty said students of the West Bengal always protest against any injustice, they speak the truth defying oppressors, and nobody should judge the entire student community of Bengal. It is the Trinamul Congress-led government which always encourages this culture.

A few days ago there was an obscene dance performance at a student unionsponsored fest. The government stood as a mute spectator no action was taken. Students are being encouraged to indulge in vulgarity,” Mr Chakraborty said. Yesterday a fierce controversy had erupted in West Bengal over an act that is being called ‘obscene’ and ‘vulgar’ by many, while others are calling it an expression of free will and non-conformity to traditional artistic expressions.

At the Rabindra Bharati university campus in Kolkata, some female students were photographed with a set of words, painted on their bare backs with colours. The words are being described as a deliberate ‘distortion’ of a much-referenced line from a famous Rabindrasangeet, ‘…chaand uthechhilo gogon-ey (the moon rose high in the sky). In this choice of text, however, the line was prefixed with a word that is frequently hurled as abuse in colloquial Bengali.

The incident reportedly took place during the Basanta Utsav (Spring festival, pre- Holi celebrations) festivities on the campus. Some male students, it is said, inscribed the lines on the women’s backs ‘in jest’. Since then, the matter went viral on social media, drawing much condemnation. Meanwhile, expressing surprise at the entry of outsiders who scribbled obscene words on the backs of some of the girl students inside RBU’s B T Road campus during the Vasantosav yesterday, Congress Rajya Sabha member Pradip Bhattacharya demanded the resignation of the vice-chancellor today.

Why were these persons allowed inside the campus and what is the take of the state education minister, Partha Chatterjee in this matter, he asked. Demanding an investigation into the incident and identifying the culprits should start immediately, the veteran Congress leader who was a teacher said. If this trend is not checked, it will usher in a slide in the field of education and culture and give the state a bad name, he added.