‘Azad Kashmir’ graffiti in Jadavpur University triggers political row; probe on

Late in the evening, the Kolkata Police registered a suo moto FIR under section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

A graffiti with ‘Azad Kashmir’ and ‘Free Palestine’ written on it surfaced at Jadavpur University in Kolkata on Monday, triggering a political row amid the ongoing student agitation in the campus.

Police personnel stand guard amid a protest rally against TMC and the Left at Jadavpur University campus in Kolkata. (Samir Jana/ HT Photo)

The graffiti, which appeared near Gate number 3 of the campus, also mentioned Ladakh, Manipur, Hasdeo and Deocha Pachami, where protests had erupted on various issues in the past.

Late in the evening, the Kolkata Police registered a suo moto FIR under section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. 

This comes at a time when the university is witnessing a stalemate over student agitation following a clash between the students’ wings of the Trinamool Congress and the CPIM on March 1. State education minister Bratya Basu’s car was attacked and a student was also injured after being alleged hit by the minister’s car.

With semester exams going on, the Jadavpur University Teachers Association (JUTA) has urged the students to join classes. The agitation, however, continued with the protesting students demanding holding of elections to student’s bodies immediately.

“JU was a famous university. But it has now become a hub of anti-national activities. Anti-national forces are now controlling this university. Frankenstein urban naxals are behind this. The TMC government, in the name of secularism, is patronising them,” Suvendu Adhikari, BJP MLA and leader of the opposition in the state legislative assembly, told media.

When asked who was behind the poster, SFI leader Srijan Bhattacharya told media persons, “Are the outsiders brought in by the TMCP and ABVP behind this? Was it done to malign the university? We had seen what had happened at the Red Fort and who was behind the attack. It needs a probe. But is it more important that the atrocities unleashed by those in power?”

“The CPIM is trying to survive holding hands of some ultra-Left activists. The BJP is funding this. This is very damaging for West Bengal and Jadavpur University. These people want to damage the fame of the varsity,” Jay Prakash Majumdar, TMC vice president and spokesperson told the media. ‘