Kolkata, May 6 (PTI) Hindutva slogans were raised during a meeting of a BJP-affiliated employees’ organisation inside Jadavpur University on Wednesday, with speakers asserting that the institution is now “under the control of nationalists” and warning against the presence of “ultra-Left student body elements” on the campus.
The gathering, organised by members of the West Bengal University Employees’ Council, was held near the portico of Aurobindo Bhavan on the university campus.
Addressing the meeting, held in the wake of the BJP’s win in the assembly polls, the organisation’s state secretary Palash Maji said the university was founded on “nationalist ideals” and asserted that such thinking would prevail on campus.
“Left ideology may exist, but there is no place here for anti-national Naxal-Maoist or ultra-Left forces,” he said, alleging the presence of Maoist sympathisers on the campus and directly targeting a student outfit.
Participants also raised slogans and issued warnings about “uprooting ultra-Left forces” from the campus.
The speakers further criticised the outgoing Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal, alleging deprivation of employees and accusing vice chancellors of being reduced to “political agents”.
They claimed these vice chancellors had, in effect, harmed the education system.
Maji asserted that Jadavpur University was now in the hands of “nationalists” and that the situation would change further.
Members of the RSS affiliate Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) were also present at the gathering.
Reacting to the development, Jadavpur University Teachers’ Association (JUTA) general secretary Partha Pratim Roy said academic concerns should take priority over politics.
He claimed that despite approval of Rs 100 crore under the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA), the BJP-led Centre had released only Rs 47 crore.
He also pointed out that the university had not been granted the ‘Institute of Eminence’ tag despite meeting requirements.
There was no immediate reaction from the student organisation RSF, which was named by Maji, regarding the allegations made at the meeting.
JU Vice Chancellor Chiranjib Bhattacharya did not comment on the points raised by the right-wing outfit. PTI SUS ACD
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