Kolkata: Bengal finance minister Swapan Dasgupta on Friday said that “a student agitation should not be hijacked by people who are professional politicians”, referring to the vandalism at Jadavpur University. His cabinet colleague Dilip Ghosh, however, on Friday said that “anti-national activities” should not be allowed on JU campus.In video posted on his X handle, Dasgupta also said: “Regardless of whether you are from the Left or the Right, everyone will take exception to the vandalism and desecration of the JU logo, which was designed by Nandalal Bose, a celebrated nationalist artist, and one which suggests strong links between JU and the nationalist movement. After all, JU has links with Sri Aurobindo. So people should be mindful of the heritage of JU; people should be mindful that a students’ movement should be left to students.”Dasgupta’s statements come 24 hours after Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya said on Thursday that the “right to dissent” is the primary condition of a democracy and that no govt can survive for long by undermining it. He also stated that the party neither endorses burning flags nor approves of flexing muscles outside the university campus.Following BJP’s Jadavpur MLA Sarbari Mukhopadhyay’s statement — “We have a nationalist govt in the state and we will not allow anti-national forces to surface” — senior BJP minister Dilip Ghosh also spoke out against anti-national forces. Alleging that certain groups indulge in “anti-national activities” on the JU campus, Ghosh on Friday said that such things should not be allowed in an educational institution. Speaking to reporters, Ghosh said the VC will have to take responsibility for activities on the campus.Meanwhile, Sharbari Mukherjee on Friday said: “I never entered the university campus on the night of the incident. I never tried to incite any violence among the students.”
