Death by Ragging: Jadavpur University Rages Against Student’s Death
End the right-wing dictatorship, punish the culprits responsible for Swapna’s murder!
Swapna is no more among us. This institutional murder has exposed the discriminatory atmosphere prevalent in educational spaces in the country. In this particular incident in Jadavpur University, a 17-year-old boy studying Honours in Bengali language died after facing brutal ragging and sexual harassment. Despite arrests being made, there seems to be no solution in place to address bullying, humiliation and discrimination with an iron fist.
As per statistics, hundreds of students die by suicide in national institutes of eminence offering professional courses in engineering, medical, law, etc. The same statistics show that thousands of students have dropped out of education due to the humiliation they face in their institutes. Despite the same, only 511 complaints of ragging have been lodged and reported to the UGC. Therefore, the recent death witnessed in Jadavpur University is not an isolated incident.
AISA has mourned in rage for Rohith Vemula, Darshan Solanki, Payal Tadvi and others from marginalised backgrounds. The demand for Rohith Act, to put an end to caste discrimination in university spaces rang through many institutes at the time, and continues to be a frontier demand of many student organisations, including that of AISA.
The present system that favours the ruling classes and the upper castes enable the humiliation of students from Dalit, Bahujan, Adivasi, Muslim and LGBTQI+ communities which is carried out through their brahminical and feudal mindsets. The present regime of the Sangh Parivar, through the ABVP and other youth wings, mirrors and perpetrates bullying and harassment with impunity. In fact, on August 17th, three activists were brutally assaulted by the CAPF and BJP goons the after ABVP and BJP Yuva Morcha were holding a meeting outside Jadavpur University, where BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, who had come to attend the meeting under the guise of a political gesture used this incident to advance his politically motivated and hate-driven divisive agenda. Adhikari has been provoking his Yuva Morcha members, stating, “We have already taught a lesson to the ‘tukde-tukde’ gang in JNU… we will cleanse them in Jadavpur as well.” Following this provocative statement, ABVP and BJP Yuva Morcha goons brutally assaulted student activists who were present there. One of the transwoman activists, Urmi, was singled out based on her gender identity and was gruesomely attacked.
The student community has now realized that the Sangh Brigade repeatedly attempts to attack progressive student organizations in public universities, aiming to stifle democratic voices and suppress campus democracy.
There have been repeated incidents of bullying and ragging in Jadavpur University which has not gone under the radar of the university authorities. In 2013, when Pritam Subba’s case came to light, the university failed to act against such forms of harassment, and there was no justice. AISA activists were thrown out of the hostel for opposing ragging in the university, and despite bringing this to the attention of the authorities, little action was taken.
There is an Anti-Ragging Cell in the university, which has failed to fulfil its obligations towards the students by preventing ragging on campus. Advertisements are put out stating that the university has a zero-tolerance policy towards ragging, and students are made to sign undertakings at the time of admission to refrain from ragging. However, in light of these incidents, the same does not seem to be adequate in curbing bullying and ragging on campus. The Cell also does not undertake any proactive awareness campaigns against bullying and harassment of students. The Anti-Ragging Cell also does not have any elected representatives from among the students to ensure transparency and accountability in ensuring students are protected.
In addition to this, there is no Gender Equality Awareness Committee in Jadavpur University. Since 2012, AISA has been campaigning for setting up of Gender Sensitisation Committee Against Sexual Harassment (GSCASH) in the university to address and prevent sexual harassment and to uphold gender justice. However, GSCASH has not been constituted and no elections to the same has been conducted. The University must ensure that GSCASH is setup immediately.
Alongside making the Anti-Ragging Cell and GSCASH fully functional on university campus, an enquiry must be initiated into the institutional death of the student and a preliminary report of the investigation must be made public within one week’s time.
AISA appeals to students to stand united against the divisive right-wing politics on campus. The ABVP and Trinamool Chhatra Parishad are consistently attacking left-wing organisations, and the left student organisations must come together to fight these divisive forces on campus, to uphold the spirit of democracy and constitutional rights of students.
We must remember that this is the Jadavpur of Ashu-Timir. In 1970-71, a large number of students from Jadavpur University hostels joined a movement to secure the rights of peasants and workers and posed a challenge to the feudal-capitalist state system. Many student activists were later martyred. AISA is fighting to protect the autonomy and democratic space of the university. We shall fight, we shall win!
Inquilab Zindabad!
