Days After Death Over 'Ragging', JU Campus Struggles To Return to Normalcy

Several JU students have boycotted classes in protest against the administration's 'inaction'.

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"We have been protesting for over 200 hours, but the university authorities still don't have an answer for us," Joydeep Sarkar, a second-year Master's student specialising in film studies at Kolkata's Jadavpur University (JU), told The Quint.

The protests come after the death of a 17-year-old first-year undergraduate (UG) student, who allegedly fell from the main hostel building after being 'ragged' by his seniors on 9 August and succumbed to his injuries the next day.

Joydeep and many other members of the All India Students Association (AISA) have been on a sit-in protest at the prestigious Aurobindo Bhavan, which houses the offices of the Vice-Chancellor and Pro Vice-Chancellor and is located at the heart of the university.

The protesting students, who have laid down mattresses in the hallway of the Bhavan, say that they will not get up until their demands for justice are met.

"Initially, we believed that the victim was subjected only to ragging, but later it was found that he was a victim of sexual assault as well. We found him lying naked on the floor in the middle of the night," Sarkar alleged.

A police official involved in the investigation had earlier told The Quint that the victim was allegedly ragged for over two hours and forced to strip naked.

Sarkar further said that several students have boycotted classes in protest against the administration's "inaction."

"It's unbelievable how many students have come forward. There were a few classes where teachers were not allowing students to join the protest, saying that such protests are just being done to divide them. Some teachers tried to promote the message that the people undertaking protests and those who committed the crime are no different."

Joydeep Sarkar

Big banners with anti-ragging messages are strewn across the university campus which, students say, have been there for years.

The banners have a list of names of professors and other officials who are a part of the university's "anti-ragging squad."

However, Kartick Chandra Mondal, an Associate Professor at JU's Department of Information Technology, whose name features in the current list, told The Quint that a decision to appoint a new anti-ragging squad has been taken in light of the student's death and will be formed soon.

The main gate of the university itself has a large white banner in front of it, which reads: "We want a ragging-free campus and hostel."

'Never Seen Something Like This'

While protests are on in full-swing at Aurobindo Bhavan, a semblance of normalcy seems to be returning to other parts of the campus.

Abhisikta Joarder, an undergraduate student of chemical engineering at the university, expressed shock over the unrest that has gripped JU over the last few days.

"I have never seen something like this. This is not very common on the campus. This is something specific to the hostel, and that too the men's hostel," she told The Quint, adding, "We weren't aware of things like these as the campus is absolutely free of all ragging."

While Joarder does not live in the women's hostel, she says that none of her women classmates have reported any ragging incidents. "As far as I have heard from my female counterparts, the female hostel is absolutely normal."

However, she adds that classes have been hampered amid the protests at JU, expressing optimism that normalcy will return soon. "Classes aren't as regular as they used to be. There have been protests regarding that as well. But it has started becoming normal again," Joarder said.

She also appealed to people to not believe the negative messages that have been spreading about the university of late.

"What you see from outside is not true. This is an open campus – anyone can walk in. So I request people to come to the campus and look around. We are just a big family. Yes, there are isolated cases and we do fight against it."

Abhisikta Joarder, JU student

Her statement was seconded by Lagan Naneu, a fifth-year UG student of architecture at the university, who hails from Arunachal Pradesh. "In our hostel, the situation is much better than the boy's hostel. There is ample security, so there are no ragging incidents at all."

Naneu added that in over four years that she has been at JU, she hasn't personally experienced any kind of ragging or discrimination.

What further added weight to the argument for normalcy was a group of tourists from Japan and across Europe which had come to visit the campus on a massive Gold Star bus, probably unbeknown of the tragedy that has put the university in the national spotlight.

On being asked what the purpose of their visit was, the group's tour guide told The Quint, "They booked a tour with us to see famous spots across the city. JU is certainly one of them."

JU is a prominent spot for tourists as it has several historical buildings and cultural spots – many of which have been around since 1905, when the university was known by the name Bengal Technical Institute.

Gloom Prevails Over Bengali Dept

However, a gloomy atmosphere prevailed over the Department of Bengali, located within the Faculty of Arts building. The victim had joined the department on 3 August as a first-year UG student and had attended classes for only a few days before his death.

"I didn't get to speak to him (the victim) much, but from what I gathered, he seemed to be a very shy and quiet person," Nabaneeta (name changed on request), one of the victim's classmates, told The Quint.

On the other hand, the Main Hostel – where the tragic incident took place – is locked and only residents and officials are allowed inside. The hostel is a stone's throw away from the Jadavpur Police Station.

In front of the main gate, however, there was a completely unexpected sight.

Swapan Dutta Baul, a 62-year-old mystic from the state's Burdwan district, stood on the edge of one of the busiest roads in Kolkata with a placard of the victim's photo around his neck, protesting against his death by playing Baul music.

Baul is a spiritual tradition that involves the playing of devotional songs. It finds its origins in Bangladesh and West Bengal. Most people who ardently follow the tradition add the word 'Baul' at the end of their names.

"I travel from one zilla to another, one college to another, to protest against unjust incidents through baul music. We must protect all students – boys and girls – from ragging, Dutta Baul told The Quint, and urged all stakeholders to come together and ruminate on measures to prevent the evil practise across educational institutions.

VC Changed, but Are Students Happy?

Meanwhile, Buddhadeb Sau, a professor of mathematics at the university, took charge as the interim Vice-Chancellor on Monday, 21 August, after being appointed to the post by Governor CV Ananda Bose on Saturday.

Several anti-ragging measures have been announced by him since he took charge. Some of these include:

1. Installation of CCTV cameras at the gates of hostels.

2. Segregation of first-year students from their seniors by earmarking the New Boys’ Hostel only for freshers – as recommended by the University Grants Commission (UGC) way back in 2009.

3. Beefing up security on campus.

However, several students are not happy with the appointment of Sau as interim VC due to his alleged political affiliations. Sau is a member of a pro-Bharatiya Janata Party teachers' organisation and state president of Gabeshak Sangh, which is purportedly a pro-RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) platform.

Expressing dismay over Sau's appointment, AISA's Joydeep Sarkar said:

"Our new VC is a pro-BJP person. He is the president of an RSS-backed platform and works just like a cadre of (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi."

He also said that no decision, including the installation of CCTV cameras, can be implemented on the campus without the will of students.

"Students are the biggest statutory stakeholders of this university. So any decision can and should be made by students," he asserted, adding, "We are depending on an all-stakeholder meeting where these issues will be raised."

Further, Sarkar said that while he understood the decision to segregate hostels initially, since first-year students were in a "state of panic" following the victim's death, he believes that doing so in the long-run is against "hostel culture".

The Quint has reached out to VC Sau multiple times but has not received a response yet. This story will be updated as and when he replies.

At least 12 people have been arrested by the Kolkata Police in connection with the case so far.