Kolkata, A day after student groups of ABVP and SFI were involved in a clash on Jadavpur University campus, the RSS students’ wing, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, on Friday claimed the breaking of a historic plaque made by Nandalal Bose at the JU gate was a “deliberate act”.
Putting the onus on left outfits SFI and RSF, the ABVP alleged it was “orchestrated with the intention of undermining the university’s heritage, culture and Indian civilisational ethos. “The lotus petals depicted on the historic plaque of Jadavpur University represent an important element of India’s traditional and cultural heritage. The repeated attempts to bring symbols of Indian culture, heritage and nationalist thought at Jadavpur University into controversy are part of a continuing pattern. This incident must be investigated impartially, and those responsible must be brought to justice. The ABVP asked how the historic plaque was broken. Who were present at the spot at the time of the incident? Who provoked the people gathered there? And at whose direction was the university’s heritage targeted.
The SFI, DSO, however, alleged that the emblem was broken by rampaging ABVP activists as they were trying to scale the closed Jadavpur university gate number 4 on Thursday.
This mindset was used to deliberately create tension and disorder, following which the historic plaque was damaged by exploiting the situation…,” the ABVP said in a statement. ABVP state secretary Neelkantha Bhattacharya said, “This is not an isolated incident. “A fair and impartial investigation into all these questions is essential,” the RSS student organisation said.
The ultra-left and Naxalite politics have historically displayed hostility towards such symbols. A clash broke out between members of ABVP and Left-leaning student groups at Jadavpur University here early on Thursday, with both sides accusing each other of bringing outsiders into the campus.
