On March 27, 2025, in the halls of Kellogg College, the Students’ Federation of India’s United Kingdom chapter held a peaceful demonstration challenging an event featuring the chief minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee.
Many have since asked us why we did this. The topic was, as we understand, discussed widely in the Bengal media.
SFI-UK was formed in response to the changing character of higher education as well as the political and economic realities concerning Indian students studying abroad. The attack against public education – by the Union Government and various state governments – and dwindling employment opportunities in India have led to a large number of students opting to study in countries like the UK. As the largest progressive mass organisation in India of the broad-based democratic student movement, it was essential for the SFI that we engage with this reality. It is towards this end that SFI-UK was set up in June 2022 as the first international unit of the organisation.
When we learnt of the event a few weeks before it took place, our initial reaction was that of alarm. The institution had invited Banerjee to speak about social development and women’s empowerment while outrage simmered on the state government’s inaction regarding the horrific rape and murder of the young doctor in Kolkata’s R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital. We expressed our discontent through an open letter to the institution and stated “our firm opposition to this event, which platforms an anti-women, anti-democratic leader who has consistently put profits before people”. The lack of response from the University compelled us to voice our democratic dissent in person.
The event hall was packed with audience members and we struggled to enter, despite having booked our tickets weeks in advance.
Professor Jonathan Michie, president of Kellogg College, initiated the event by promoting the institution’s supposed inclusive and innovative ethos. He introduced Banerjee as a strong female leader. Little attention was paid to the character of her politics or the fact that crime against women has been used as a political tool multiple times in Banerjee’s rule. It quickly became evident to us that the event was designed as a platform to whitewash Banerjee’s regime in West Bengal, rather than to facilitate an honest and critical dialogue on policies that would genuinely benefit the state’s people.
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Ignored were the factual everyday realities of her government’s actions — its suppression of student movements, its failure to address gender-based violence, its violent crackdown against dissent, and its failure to meet the aspirations of working people. Banerjee’s introductory remarks ranged from applauding Trinamool Congress policies on women empowerment to appreciating the British state as a friend, with whom India has historically held “good relations”. We listened as Banerjee lauded her party’s so-called achievements in women’s empowerment and social welfare. Yet when pressed for specifics by members of the audience, she dodged and deflected by repeating trite slogans instead of providing substantive facts. It was at this stage that we decided to display our stance by silently holding up posters at the back of the hall. Our posters called out the TMC’s misrule. Banerjee responded to our action immediately, with patronising phrases inviting us to Bengal to “feed us sweets”.
In response, we insisted that she ought to instead answer for the state government’s mishandling of the RG Kar case. When Banerjee claimed to support the students and democratic rights in West Bengal, we asked her why students have not been able to hold university elections for the last many years. We asked why students at Jadavpur University are being tormented and physically attacked by her government’s ministers for demanding their rights to campus democracy. When Banerjee claimed to have advanced women’s empowerment in the state, we asked why the state has the highest school dropout rate among girls in the country and one of the highest incidences of child marriage. We questioned Kellogg College on its platforming of a rape apologist.
The president of Kellogg College claimed to be leading a revolutionary institution. We asked whether it is revolutionary to endorse a leader who has overseen violence against the democratic political opposition in the state, evidenced by the 60 deaths that occurred in the panchayat elections of 2023 or at Sandeshkhali or Deucha Pachami.
Instead of allowing us to calmly express our opinions and providing a meaningful response, Banerjee continued her practice of dodging the issues raised and began waging individual attacks by claiming that we were unnecessarily politicising the event. Our questions agitated her and her supporters in the audience, who rose and yelled expletives at us rather than seeking to engage. The organisers at Kellogg College accused us of disrupting the event, called the police and forced us to leave the premises. Word of our protest reached West Bengal almost instantly and TMC’s social media cell orchestrated a campaign of online abuse and doxxing against us on social media, going so far as to allege that this was carried out in coordination with the right wing.
Against accusations that we are an “anti-national” group, we have repeatedly asserted that our aim, as citizens of India, is to demand answers from an elected representative of the people. The corruption, ineptitude, and hooliganism of the TMC are a larger insult to the country than earnest questions in the interest of the working people.
Nikhil Mathew is the secretary of SFI-UK. Nupur Paliwal is the vice-president of SFI-UK.
