On May 14, the posters of BJP were removed before the roadshow of BJP leader Amit Shah. The roadshow or the rally that had to happen was destroyed by the goons of TMC, alleged the BJP workers. The same evening, after the roadshow, the colleges transformed into literal war zones for the TMC and BJP student wing workers who were enmeshed in a scuffle on the streets of North Kolkata.
After AMU, JMI, now it’s Calcutta University and Vidyasagar College, and yet another incident where students are simply being used as “scapegoats” for political motives and rifts.
Initially, the students of the university were peacefully protesting, which is their right with black flags and posters, as shared by Anubhav Chakraborty on Instagram. Members of the student union, largely dominated by the TMC, had crowded to the front gate of Calcutta University to raise their voice against Amit Shah. But, after that, the saffron clad approached the college and lashed on students.
The dispute happened first in front of Calcutta University and then spilled over to Vidyasagar College where the bust of Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was destroyed as the student wing workers started hurling bottles, bricks, and stones at each other. The statue was kept inside the building of the college, showing that the people who destroyed it passed the gate and the door to destroy it. These ‘unsafe conditions’ was also one of the reasons for the protest.
After the violence, the college had shards of glass and burnt motorbikes lying outside the gates. Derek O’ Brien released multiple videos showing how BJP workers clad in saffron outfits were seen burning motorbikes and cycles parked outside the Vidyasagar College.
Later at night, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee took out a padyatra from Vidyasagar College to Calcutta University as a mark of protest against the vandalism. She hit back at Shah calling him a “goonda.”
“If you lay your hands on Vidyasagar, what will I call you other than a goonda. I hate your ideology, I hate your ways,” she said at a rally in Kolkata.
To this, Amit Shah said that, “Today the way BJP’s roadshow got a response in Kolkata with almost every citizen attending it. TMC’s goons were frustrated and so they attacked us. I would like to congratulate BJP workers as even after such chaos the roadshow continued and concluded at the planned place and time.”
Kolkata retaliated to this vandalism and hundreds of students, artists and academics launched into the same College Street under an apolitical banner, with a loud and clear message – such attacks will not be tolerated. The vandalization was the aftermath of whatever happened before the last phase of election that had to happen on May 19. After the disruption in the campus, Sitaram Yechury took to Twitter.
BJP-RSS think nothing of when they vandalise the historic Vidyasagar College, break Vidyasagar statue. This is their advocacy of India’s civilisational heritage? Attacking knowledge is central to getting their poisonous project going. Bengal will reject the destruction they offer
— Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) May 14, 2019
Aishik Saha, an AISA activist in Jadavpur University, told Campus Watch, “commoners were not a part of the protest, it was just the students.” He further said, “If society overall is divided, then campuses will naturally be affected. Students aren’t isolated from society.”
Poulami Ghosh, a former student of Calcutta University added, “Whether it is BJP or TMC , both were equally responsible for the act.” Anurag Mazumder, a former student of Calcutta University and MPhil research scholar, commented on the issue, “I find it to be a political hooliganism. I am appalled at how much brawn BJP could show, without even being in power in Bengal. A fire alit within college premises is unthinkable, breaking Vidyasagar’s bust is shameful.”