The Students' Federation of India (SFI) held a massive protest rally on Tuesday, August 29, against the politicisation and allegations by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in relation to the death of a student at Jadavpur University by ragging.
Thousands of students, including a former SFI leader from the Jadavpur University, joined the protest on Tuesday.
“Jadavpur University has been ranked the fourth top university in India and is only the only state university to hold a position in the NIRF (National Institutional Ranking Framework) top 10 universities. It is also one of the oldest universities in India. If the culture of this university was this progressive, the students and faculty members wouldn’t allow an incident like this to happen,” spoke Mayukh Biswas, General Secretary, Students' Federation Of India (SFI).
The deceased student, Swapnadeep Kundu, allegedly fell off the balcony of a hostel building at the university after being ragged and sexually harassed on the night of August 9. He was taken to a hospital but died in the early hours of August 10.
Allegations by CM
As per reports, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had alleged on August 15, a few days after the death of a first-year student at JU by ragging, that Marxists were responsible for the incident.
The protest rally was held in response to the comments made by West Bengal CM as SFI, the student wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), refuted the claims.
“The way CM Mamata Banerjee has responded in this crisis is exactly like BJP-RSS. None of the students booked in relation to the student's death are connected with SFI in any way. Also, SFI is only present at the Arts faculty at JU,” Biswas added.
Students at Jadavpur University also protested against officiating Vice-Chancellor Buddhadeb Sau demanding strict actions to stop ragging on campus.
