Stones, Eggs, Bricks, Shoes, Fire: 12 Hours of Saffron Mob Violence at Jadavpur University After BJP MLA’s ‘Tandav’ Call

Kolkata: By the time the saffron flag-bearing men climbed Gate 4 of Jadavpur University in Kolkata and used its lotus-ringed emblem as a foothold, any pretence that Thursday’s (August 20) mobilisation was a peaceful student protest had collapsed.

The emblem, designed by Nandalal Bose, shows three flames surrounded by a blooming lotus. It had stood above the gate for more than two decades as a symbol of the university. Supporters of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), a student outfit affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), marching under saffron flags climbed the gate, planted their feet on Bose’s work to haul themselves up, broke part of it and then trampled on it.

The three flames stand for all-round development, emotion and imagination, and spiritual life. The lotus petals represent the arts. Bose was a leading figure of the Bengal School of Art movement and a former principal of Kala Bhavana at Santiniketan. At its golden jubilee, the university adopted the motto “Development Through Knowing”. His design was made to carry it.

Men who spent their evenings calling other people anti-national broke it with their shoes.

Legendary Painter Nandalal bose designed Jadavpur university emblem which was vandalised by ABVP yday ,he also did beautiful illustrations of the Indian constitution,
his octogenarian grand son & his wife were deleted in voter list by SIR . https://t.co/EjaVMKBdwV pic.twitter.com/jRpakQcunW

— সত্যান্বেষী (@satyanewshi) August 21, 2026

There was a grim irony in the spectacle. Even a lotus was not safe from the foot soldiers of lotus politics.

The vandalism happened in broad daylight, with the police present, after a full night of arson, assault and intimidation that neither the university administration and nor the police have yet fully accounted for.

Twelve hours of ‘tandav’ as police watch over

Trouble was expected on Thursday morning and a large police force had been deployed. However, what the force largely did was just watch.

Around 2.30 pm, an ABVP mob marching from the Golpark area broke through one barricade after another and ultimately reached Gate 4 of the university. 

Half a kilometre away, at the 8B bus station crossing, a considerably larger gathering of Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) supporters was blocked by police barricades.

SFI leader Dipsita Dhar alleged, “There are no female police officers present here, yet I am being physically handled.”

The ABVP march was briefly stopped near Jadavpur police station. But they removed the guardrails and barricades themselves and continued towards Gate 4. They tried every possible way to get past the gate, including attempts to climb it and topple it – that was when the emblem was broken.

Members of the ABVP try to breach police barricades during their 'Jadavpur University Abhiyan' rally in Kolkata. Photo: PTI

Students inside the campus said stones, eggs, bricks, shoes and filthy water bottles were thrown over the wall as the police simply watched. The force stood aside while the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) ideological supporters staged a show of strength against a university still considered a Left bastion.

Left supporters, after learning that the ABVP was advancing towards the campus, blamed the police for letting it happen. They then broke through the barricades, too, and headed towards Gate 4. Tempers rose quickly between SFI and ABVP supporters.

The ABVP was unhappy with the police too – and that revealed something about the expectations behind their protest.

A woman from the mob shouted, “Ekhan amader sarkar cholchhe, aar amaderi atke dichche police. Eta kii kore hoy? (Now our party is running the government here in the state, yet the police are stopping us! How is this possible?)”

Another supporter accused the police of siding with the “Naxals”.

BJP MLA’s announcement the night before

None of this arrived without warning.

On Wednesday night, Jadavpur’s BJP MLA Sarbori Mukherjee stood outside the university with right-wing supporters and threatened Left leaders, including Sujan Chakraborty and Srijan Bhattacharya, with consequences.

She announced, “Aaj sara rat tandav cholbe (There will be a massive scene all night).”

Within hours, men described by students and university staff as ‘outsiders’ were inside the campus. The Wire tried to contact Mukherjee through WhatsApp on Thursday. She had not responded by late evening. The article will be updated if she does.

Neither the ruling party or the university administration had publicly demanded an explanation from her at the time of this article’s publication.

A student dispute becomes the pretext

Faculty of Engineering and Technology Students Union (FETSU), an active student body at Jadavpur, had called a general body meeting on Wednesday evening at Aurobindo Bhavan, the administrative block near Gates 1 and 2 of the university. Supporters of the Democratic Students’ Federation (DSF), another left-wing student body, and the ABVP also attended.

The immediate dispute was small and procedural. It concerned who would control the union’s official email address, social media handles and bank account.

ABVP supporters allegedly began chanting slogans describing DSF supporters as “Naxalites” and “anti-nationals”. One ABVP supporter allegedly attacked Left-wing students with a bamboo stick. Students also alleged that a large number of people associated with the BJP and other right-wing groups gathered outside and assaulted Left supporters.

Aurobindo Bhavan, the main administrative building of Jadavpur University. Photo: Anwesha Banerjee

Several students from both sides were injured and taken to government and private hospitals. Most were discharged after basic treatment.

On Wednesday night, the ABVP demonstrated outside Jadavpur police station. An engineering student from the saffron camp filed a complaint against at least 11 students from the opposing side under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act.

Students who opposed the ABVP said some of their members had also been injured. They claimed they could not reach the police station to file a counter-complaint.

After Mukherjee’s warning that the “tandav” would continue all night, a large group of BJP supporters and other outsiders allegedly broke open a university gate and entered the campus.

Students who spoke to The Wire alleged that fires were started on the campus around 1:15 am on Thursday. Within half an hour, they said, the CCTV control room was attacked and the footage was destroyed.

Indranuj Ray, a leader of the left-wing student organisation Revolutionary Students’ Front (RSF), posted on Facebook that “mobs of 400 in and around Gate 4, and a mob of around 800 are blocking all exits across 8B Bus Terminus.”

Several videos have circulated on social media, showing some men, who appeared considerably older than university students, pulling down Left-wing flags, tearing posters and setting fire to banners and flexes, though The Wire could not independently verify them. Outside Aurobindo Bhavan, men could be heard saying “Happy Diwali” as material was set alight. Students trapped inside could be heard shouting.

ABVP-BJP-RSS goons attacked students at Jadavpur University!!! Arrived on bikes at midnight & unleashed violence inside university campus, attacking students with weapons, vandalising union rooms, throwing stones and bricks and setting fire to students’ belongings! SHAME. pic.twitter.com/C61C9lwUKk

— SFI (@SFI_CEC) August 20, 2026

The violence later reached the Jadavpur University Main Hostel, situated closer to the Jadavpur police station. A video showed right-wing goons trying to force open the hostel’s main gate as frightened students pleaded for help. Security personnel were present on the other side but did not intervene. Left to defend themselves, the students eventually managed to stop the mob from entering the hostel. 

A student who was at the campus at the time told The Wire, “Outsiders backed by the ruling party attacked us and vandalised our campus. Sixty bike-borne goons entered and tried to set the whole campus on fire. The police failed to act last night.”

Another student alleged that the vice-chancellor could not be reached, students felt helpless and the police did nothing even after a verbal complaint was made through the police helpline, 100.

The clearest account of danger, however, came from a security guard at Aurobindo Bhavan. “Last night, I locked 30 to 35 university students inside Aurobindo Bhavan and locked all the entry and exit gates. Otherwise, they would have been killed,” he told The Wire.

The guard said outsiders demanded that he open the gates, but he refused. The guard opened it only two to three hours later, once the police had finally arrived.

ABVP denies allegations, BJP tries to distance itself but fails

The ABVP has denied all these allegations and instead, blamed Left-wing students and groups for the violence. It claimed that its members, including Jadavpur University unit president Nikhil Das and mechanical engineering student Diptiman Kar, had been attacked.

The ABVP also alleged FETSU lacked legal validity, and that their supporters had been assaulted merely for raising the issue.

Later, Das himself alleged that he and Kar had been discharged from hospital by 3 am. On Thursday afternoon, Das was seen walking around the campus, holding a press conference and speaking on the phone.

Shubhrabrata Adhikari of the ABVP’s Central Executive Committee, on Thursday, said: “We will enter Jadavpur no matter what! ABVP has no organisational link with the BJP in this matter. In JU, there will be a surgical strike democratically on Dimagi Naxals.”

BJP state president Shamik Bhattacharya has tried to put a formal distance between the party and the men marching under saffron flags.

“ABVP is an independent nationalist organisation. BJP has no link with them. BJP has no students’ wing. Our party has never operated inside campuses!” he claimed before the media. 

The denial, however, did not survive his next explanation. 

Bhattacharya acknowledged that BJP MLA Sarbari Mukherjee had been present outside the university when the violence spilled onto the road.

“As the local MLA, she was present and tried to control the situation,” he claimed.

Bhattacharya also flatly denied that BJP supporters had burnt any flags. “It is not our culture,” he claimed.

Police account leaves more questions than answers

A senior Kolkata Police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, gave a different account of the 12-hour episode.

Near Aurobindo Bhavan, Jadavpur University. Photo: Anwesha Banerjee

“The Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Jadavpur Police Station attempted to contact the vice-chancellor and other university officials but was unable to reach them. Later, a complaint regarding the disturbance inside the campus was received via Dial 100. The pro-vice-chancellor also contacted the Jadavpur PS officer and requested police assistance inside the campus,” he said.

The officer added, “The police team then entered the campus, removed the outsiders, and observed that some posters and festoons had been torn and burned outside Aurobindo Bhavan. Approximately 50 to 60 members were found inside the Bhavan, where the meeting was still ongoing. When asked to come out, they refused to leave.”

The police account leaves more questions than answers.

It does not explain why outsiders were able to enter a supposedly secured campus, why students had to be locked inside a building to protect them from a mob, or why those burning flags and vandalising university property were not immediately arrested.

It also does not explain why the ABVP was able to break through successive barricades the next afternoon and reach Gate 4 despite a large police and Rapid Action Force deployment.

The police managed to contain the larger Left march at the 8B crossing. They failed to prevent the ABVP from reaching and attacking the university gate. There was no answer as to why.

Whether it was deliberate indulgence or spectacular police failure, the result was the same. Saffron vandals reached the campus and showed that barricades did not apply to them the way they did to others.

As teachers condemn violence, the university’s response

Speaking to the media, Partha Pratim Ray, president of the Jadavpur University Teachers’ Association (JUTA), said, “We lack words to condemn how outsiders entered and wreaked havoc at 1:00 AM. Furthermore, we question why political provocation is being added to this.”

JUTA also demanded action on the basis of the CCTV footage. The teachers have demanded an investigation into who broke the lock at Gate 4 on Wednesday night.

Students and teachers started a sit-in on Thursday afternoon and said they would continue until Vice-Chancellor Chiranjib Bhattacharya appeared on campus.

Speaking to the press, Bhattacharya said, “The university is not outside the country. Therefore, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 is applicable inside the campus as well. Whatever action is required, I will take accordingly.”

Late on Thursday night, the vice-chancellor emailed university stakeholders and announced that a high-powered investigation committee would be constituted by the morning of August 21.

“The University authority will file a police complaint at Jadavpur Police Station regarding the incident(s) that happened on the night of 19th August (also on the day of 20th August) regarding the issues related to vandalism and destruction of government properties at the campus. All the CCTV footage regarding the incident happened on the night of 19th August, will be preserved and will be handed over to the investigation committee to identify the accused person and the perpetrator of the crime by the outsider who entered the campus illegally. Any security lapse on the part of Jadavpur University will also be investigated by the said committee and proper corrective action(s) will be taken in the due course.”

An email sent by the Jadavpur University V-C to university stakeholders on the night of August 20. Photo: By arrangement

The vice-chancellor also issued an appeal to members of the university community to remain calm, exercise restraint and avoid being provoked by rumours, unverified reports or inflammatory statements. He said the immediate priority was restoring an academic atmosphere in which students, teachers, researchers, officials and staff could work without fear.

The V-C's appeal. Photo: By arrangement

RSF’s Ray, in a Facebook post, said, “After intense resistance from Students and Teachers of Jadavpur University till 9 p.m, the Vice-Chancellor has acknowledged the vandalism by ABVP-NSF-RSS goons and has agreed to all the demands placed by the Teachers and Students of JU.”

He added, “The people united, shall always be victorious!”

Notably, a notice at the gates clearly reads: “Without Identity Card, Entry is prohibited”. Yet, outsiders allegedly entered in large numbers, roamed the campus, tore down material and lit fires.

A day later, there were still no meaningful security checks.

To test the arrangements, this reporter entered through Gate 2 without being stopped, walked through the campus, took photographs and interviewed people. No guard asked for identification. The reporter later left through another gate without being questioned.

No checks and barely any security at Jadavpur University gate day after violence. Photo: Anwesha Banerjee

Students on the campus said they remained afraid because almost anyone appeared to be able to enter the campus unchecked.

Return of an old allegation

The role of ABVP’s Nikhil Das, who is no stranger to controversy, has further added to public scrutiny.

Back in 2014, Das was accused of sexually harassing a junior student during the university’s Sanskriti festival. He was a third-year civil engineering student at the time. He was subsequently arrested, and spent several days in police custody.

The incident and the administration’s initial handling of the complaint contributed to the unrest that later came to be known as the “Hok Kolorob” movement. The movement centred on police action against students and demand for the resignation of then vice-chancellor Abhijit Chakrabarti.

The case itself went no further. Das has also denied the allegation.

“I was framed then. I received a clean chit from the court. There is no justification for dragging up an old incident,” he said in a Facebook reel on Thursday.

Social media users have questioned how a person accused in that case came to head the ABVP unit at the university. Das did not respond to The Wire’s queries.

The Wire journalist threatened

The conduct of ABVP supporters towards The Wire’s reporter on Thursday added to the view of the political culture on display.

As supporters prepared to march towards the university, they shouted “Veer Savarkar Zindabad”, “Bharat Mata Ki Jai”, “Naxal has no place here” and “SFI-er chamra, gutiye nebo aamra”. The last one translates to, “We will roll up the SFI’s skin”.

When this reporter asked about the allegation against Das, ABVP supporters first tried to prevent the question. Two men in the crowd then, in an attempt to intimidate, said, “Naam ki mamani? Raate dekha kori? (What’s your name, dear? Should we meet at night?)”

This intimidation continued outside Jadavpur police station. While photographing police preparations, this reporter took a picture of two men speaking with officers without knowing their identities. Seconds later, a third man, seeing this, aggressively demanded to know what had been photographed.

Kolkata Police Commissioner Ajay Nand and Deputy Commissioner of Police for the South Suburban Division, Umesh G. Khandbahale had not responded to questions about the police’s role at the time of publication.

Thursday’s assault was not the Sangh Parivar’s first attempt to force its way into Jadavpur University. Since at least 2016, the ABVP has repeatedly marched towards its gates, brought programmes and political personalities onto the campus, mobilised outsiders and tried to build an electoral foothold inside the institution. 

Each confrontation has been accompanied by a remarkably consistent propaganda campaign. Jadavpur has been called many names, including a “hub of anti-nationals”, a “den” of secessionists and communists, and even a target deserving a “Balakot-like surgical strike”. 

In September 2019, ABVP supporters stormed the campus, ransacked the Arts students’ union room and set cycles and roadside stalls on fire. In 2023, even the death of a young student following alleged ragging was used by BJP leaders to demand that “anti-national forces” be driven out.

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