SFI, ABVP take out rallies, blame each other for JU violence

The Students Federation of India and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad on Friday took out rallies in the city and eleswhere in the state blaming each other for the violence in the Jadavpur University campus on Thursday.

Workers of the SFI held a rally from Dhakuria to the JU campus to protest against the violence during Union minister Babul Supriyo's visit, while ABVP activists organised a protest march near Mahatma Gandhi's statue in Mayo Road against the alleged assault on him.

The SFI, students' wing of the CPI(M), accused Supriyo of provocation and the ABVP of vandalising the JU campus.

"The way ABVP workers vandalised the JU campus reflects the fascist mindset of the BJP and the Sangh Parivar. We condemn such violence inside the university campus, which is a cradle of free and liberal thinking," an SFI leader said.

The RSS's students' wing ABVP, on the other hand, wondered whether or not "beating up" a Union minister was tolerance.

"The anti-national forces and the Left call us fascist and intolerant. But what kind of tolerance is this is when a union minister is heckled and beaten up inside an educational campus. Is this the kind of tolerance they preach?" senior ABVP leader Subir Haldar said.

Union minister Babul Supriyo was on Thursday shown black flags and heckled by a section of students at Jadavpur University, prompting West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar to rush to the institute.

Dhankar, who is the chancellor of the university, also faced demonstrations by the agitators - mostly members of Left-leaning organisations and some activists of the Trinamool Congress Chhatra Parishad, university sources said.

The governor and Supriyo, however, managed to leave the campus with police escort.

Workers