
On Sunday, February 2, 2025, West Bengal Education Minister Bratya Basu faced protests from students at a Kolkata college who alleged that outsiders led by a Trinamool Congress Chhatra Parishad (TMCP) leader threatened them for organising Saraswati Puja on the institute's campus.
Following a row between two groups of students at Jogeshchandra Law College over organising the puja, the Calcutta High Court on Friday asked the Kolkata Police to ensure that law college students can hold the ceremony with adequate security, as PTI reported.
Matters came to a head on January 29 when students of the law college, the majority of them women, alleged they were being prevented from organising the puja on college premises by members of TMCP led by ex-student Sabir Ali and even faced rape threats by them. Following this incident, one of the female students then moved the Calcutta High Court seeking its intervention, and the judge ordered that the students must be allowed to celebrate the festival and asked a top-ranked official of Kolkata Police to monitor the security posting of personnel is adequate at the college gate.
One general college and a law college are run in the same building at different times of the day. For years, students of the two colleges have been separately organising the puja on the same campus. However, the situation was different this year.
Basu, who was accompanied by local Trinamool Congress MP Mala Roy, was greeted by 'We Want Justice' slogans from the female students as he went inside the law college campus and met them. "I am here to talk to you. None will coerce you, terrorise you or threaten you. If anyone has issued any threat, we will take strong action against him," the education minister said.
Several of the female students broke down before him and alleged that while entering the college, they were threatened with assault and rape by a few "outsiders".
Further, Basu said, "I have met the students, I had a darshan of the idol and offered prayers. I have assured the students we will look into their grievances and appropriate action will be taken after the inquiry."
Additionally, he said he would meet with them and the college authorities on February 5-6 to discuss the issues, according to PTI.