The Jadavpur University Teachers Association (JUTA) on Saturday asked leftist students who are protesting to think about stopping their boycott of classes and exams. This protest began after a student got hurt on March 1 when West Bengal Education Minister Bratya Basu’s car brushed against him during a demonstration on campus.
The acting vice-chancellor of the university, Bhaskar Gupta, who is in the hospital since March 5, urged everyone to help bring back normalcy and continue with academic work. He said, “let’s talk and solve these issues peacefully.”
JUTA supported the students’ demands to drop police cases made against some protesters related to the March 1 incident. In a statement, they said it was important for students and teachers to have respect for each other and maintain a good relationship, as is the tradition at the university.
The protesting students, part of leftist groups like SFI, AIDSO, RSF, and AISA, threatened to stop all work at the university’s administrative building if the management didn’t engage in talks with them by March 10. They began an indefinite sit-in protest to make their voices heard.
Two students were hurt when Minister Basu’s car and a follow-up vehicle passed close to them during the protest. Many students have been skipping classes and exams since the incident, and the university is facing disruptions in operations.
JUTA urged students to reconsider their boycott so that academic activities could continue. They also called for a fair investigation into what happened that day. The vice-chancellor expressed sadness for the injuries that occurred and hoped that everyone would recover.
The trouble started when students wanted to speak to the minister about delaying student union elections, which have not happened in the university since 2020. One student leader stated, “We haven’t been able to talk to anyone from the university since the incident. If the acting VC is not well, we want other officials to meet us so we can discuss this.” All the student groups, except for those from the ruling TMC and RSS, are standing together for their rights.
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