A group of students of Visva Bharati university in Santiniketan on Saturday alleged that several members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) attacked them while they were observing a 24-hour-long hunger strike and protest in solidarity with Sonam Wangchuk.
The protest was not limited to Visva-Bharati students but was open to students and supporters of the cause from across Santiniketan. According to the organisers, nearly 40 people participated in the demonstration.
The peaceful protest, which began at 10 am opposite the university’s Central Library, was disrupted around noon. The situation turned violent when around 30 individuals, whom the protesters identified as ABVP members, allegedly clashed with the demonstrators, assaulted some of them, and tore apart their banners.
“This was a simple students’ protest in solidarity with Sonam Wangchuk’s hunger strike in Delhi demanding justice for the students who were victims of the NEET-UG paper leak. There were no political affiliations or party banners,” Sanjana Dutta, one of the demonstrators, told Alt News. “It was a sit-in protest on the side of the road with only placards and musical instruments. We were demonstrating by singing songs, reciting poems, and raising slogans regarding Wangchuk’s deteriorating health condition and the government apathy.”
Describing the altercation, Dutta alleged, “A few hours into the protest, around 12:30 pm, a few people self-identifying as ABVP members started shouting and hurling abuses at us. They called us ‘anti-national’ and ‘China-funded elements’. They also started yelling ‘Vande Mataram’ and ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ at us. We were trying to protect ourselves by forming a circle, but they began pushing us aside and started tearing our posters and placards apart.”
“When we began retaliating by also chanting ‘Vande Mataram’ and ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ back at them, they started beating us up, resulting in a violent clash. We dialed 112 multiple times. Police eventually arrived but they just stood there. But upon the seeing police personnel arriving, huge crowds began to gather and that’s when the ABVP attackers dispersed on their own,” she alleged, adding that the students, albeit traumatised by this assault, would continue with their 24-hour-long hunger strike.
Video footage accessed by Alt News shows a female protester in pink being slapped repeatedly and attacked by a man in a brown shirt amidst chaos and clash. The girl, Madhusmriti, who has recently completed her Masters from Visva Bharati and is currently awaiting her degree, described the altercation to Alt News.
“The ABVP members were continuously attacking and hitting us. Male members were hitting girls with their elbows and eventually when a female ABVP member began attacking my friend, I went to stop her, which is when the brown shirt guy started violently slapping me.” She further alleged that four male ABVP members dragged her by hair through the road, severely injuring her. Alt News could not independently verify the identity of the alleged attacker in the video footage, but Madhusmriti claimed he is a known ABVP member from Bolpur College.
On the other hand, ABVP Visva Bharati secretary Dip Kumar Sahani told Alt News that the outfit’s workers peacefully approached the site where the students had gathered to protest against what he described as a ‘desh virodhi’ (anti-national) demonstration.
“Under the garb of supporting Sonam Wangchuk, they were tarnishing the country’s name and raising anti-national slogans. Our members simply started sloganeering ‘Vande Mataram’ and ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’. Right after this, they started pushing our members away. They were the ones who began attacking us, we did not initiate any physical violence. The girls started hurling abuses and attacking us while also accusing us of fake molestation charges. We just wanted to stop their anti-national agenda,” Sahani said.
The violent clash between the two groups was initially reported by Bengali news outlets TV9 Bangla and Big News 24×7 Bangla.
Sit-in Organised Despite No Police Permission
Dutta highlighted that ahead of the protest, on Friday, a group of student representatives from Visva Bharati had gone to Santiniketan police station and submitted a letter of intimation, informing them of the protest and seeking protection in case there was anything untoward. “Police denied them permission to hold a sit-in hunger strike or any protest at all,” she alleged.
Madhusmriti claimed that after being attacked, the protesting students approached both the Bolpur women police station and Santiniketan police station and attempted to lodge FIRs. “They refused to take our complaint citing that we did not have permission to organise a protest in the first place.”
Another Master’s student of Visva Bharati, Anurag, who was injured in the attack, said that along with other injured students, he had gone to Santiniketan police station separately. “They allowed us to write a complaint at the station but did not give us a receipt. When we repeatedly asked if an FIR would be lodged, they said they would let us know once the OC arrived,” he said, adding that they have since not received any updates from the police.
However, a police official from Bolpur women police station told Alt News that the students had already filed a written complaint with Santiniketan PS when they approached the Women PS and were told that the same complaint could not be registered twice.
An official from Santiniketan PS told Alt News that they had taken the complaint and further inquiry was underway, while highlighting that the students had gone ahead with the protest without police permission in a prohibited area. “The students held a protest even after we categorically denied them permission. That too in an area which is prohibited for protests. The whole scuffle took place because they violated police norms. Still, we have taken the complaint and the matter will be looked into.”
