A crowd vandalised property at Visva Bharati University in Shantiniketan on Monday
In day-long developments at Visva Bharati University, vandalised yesterday by a mob of outsiders, the police filed a case today against a Trinamool MLA who was spotted in the 200-strong crowd that pulled down decorative gates of the varsity in the most shocking manner ever seen on campus.
Governor Jagdeep Dhankar wrote to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee this evening, calling the incident “unprecedented vandalism” much like “organised crime” that was “premeditated and conspiratorial”, committed with “no fear of the police”.
“Every society draws a red line between the right and wrong: a wrong must be recognised, punished and seen that it does not recur,” he wrote.
The eight people arrested last night have been sent to police custody for two days.
There has been no action against the Trinamool MLA or others associated with the party who are named in the First Information Report.
A leader of the party’s district unit said the MLA, Naresh Bauri, had participated in the protest as an alumnus of the university and not as a party leader.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has not responded to the Governor’s letter or earlier tweets. Yesterday, she had ordered a meeting that was to be held today between district authorities, varsity authorities and representatives of a group called Save Poush Mela Committee, which reportedly called for protests on social media. Details about this organisation are scanty.
Another organisation called Bolpur Traders Committee, comprising small business owners who depended on the annual fair for an income, reportedly joined yesterday’s protest.
After yesterday’s violence, Ms Banerjee had said people of Bolpur had protested as they did not want authorities to build a wall around the ground where the annual mela was held every December. Boundary walls were against the ethos of Visva Bharati and its founder Rabindranath Tagore, she said.
“I don’t want any construction there, construction that will barricade the beauty of the red soil,” Ms Bnaerjee said.
But the whole issue is set to escalate. At a meeting of the university authorities, it has been decided to apprise Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the incident. He, after all, is the chancellor of the university.
What is sure to emerge as a thorny issue is the authorities’ decision to requisition Central security forces to guard the campus. In a resolution, the authorities have stated that when the mob was ransacking parts of the campus, they had tried to contact the police, but could not get through on phone.
