Jadavpur University files complaint against ABVP-BJP activists

The Jadavpur University authorities on Friday filed a police complaint against four outsiders - three of them ABVP activists - for allegedly molesting female students of the varsity during a commotion over an open-air screening of Vivek Agnihotri's film "Buddha In A Traffic Jam".

With the campus on the boil over the screening of the movie, that faced loud protests from a large section of left-leaning students loyal to FETSU and sparked clashes, vice chancellor Suranjan Das blamed the JU alumni association for giving permission to the organisers to use the Triguna Sen Auditorium and then cancelling it.

"We have never given permission, nor cancelled it. The Triguna Sen Auditorium is owned and managed by the JU Alumni Association and we have no say in its running. We have no control over to whom and when they will rent the hall, or the money they will charge," said Das.

"The main culprit is the alumni association. Why did they give the hall to the Pune-Based organisation in the first place, and then again cancelled it? We will talk to the alumni association," said Das.

The organisers, Das said, should have taken permission from the university authorities before holding the open-air screening.

"If any outside organisation wants to hold a meeting on the ground, they need to take permission from the authorities. The organsiation which held the screening is not even remotely connected to the university. But they never bothered to take permission," said Das.

Asked why the authorities did not stop the screening after it was started, Das said it was felt there could be trouble in such an eventuality.

"There were two simultaneous screenings by this Pune-based organisation and the university students. When the screenings started, everything was peaceful. But later, there were some unfortunate incidents."

Das said the university authorities have received complaints from the students that some outsiders had molested the female learners. "Four of them were identified and kept in our estate office. But no one was confined. They have been handed over to the police. We have filed an FIR on behalf of the university against them".

Das said he firmly believed that a university should be a place for liberal thinking and everybody should be able to express their view points.

"In this case the organisers should have taken permission before holding the open-air screening," he added.