18 BESU students punished for campus violence

Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, October 6
Bengal Engineering and Science University (BESU), Shibpur on Saturday, punished 18 students after they were found guilty of beating up two students. One of the victims is CPI(M) MP Md Selim’s son Russel Aziz. The incident had occurred on the night of October 5 in hostel number 7.
Second-year student Amit Kumar Mondal received head injuries and Russel, a second-year IT student was also injured during the fight. Selim, was in Delhi when the incident occurred, spoke to university authorities after returning to Kolkata on Saturday. He stated that he had full faith in the university administration and was positive that it would maintain a proper academic atmosphere in the institution.
The university called an emergency disciplinary committee meeting, following which, four students have been rusticated from the university and from the hostel. Ten other students have been suspended from the hostel, while four others have been given warnings.
“On Monday, the university will institute an inquiry into the incident. The next step to be taken by administration will also be decided then. All students are important to us and our only aim is to maintain peace and academic atmosphere in the institution. The university will do everything it cab to maintain that,” said a very high-placed official of the university.
Though, the reason behind the fight is not known yet, according to university authorities, the fight was not due to any political reasons. They believe some other problem amongst the students in hostel number 7 might have caused the fight.
This is not the first time that violence has broken out in BESU either. In August last year, second-year student Sounik Basu was critically injured. He had to be rushed to SSKM Hospital and was later operated upon and put on life support system at CMRI.
Members of Independent Consolidation (IC), which controlled the student’ union had alleged that SFI supporters had come to the hostel with hockey sticks and iron rods. But since most hostel inmates were in class at the time, the attackers damaged doors and windows of the hostel and ransacked belongings of IC sympathisers.
According to an IC member, while the vandals were at it, they spied the registrar approaching and they promptly jumped out of second floor of the hostel. In the process, Sounik, an electrical engineering student, was injured after landing in a drain. Then BESU authorities had filed an FIR with Shibpur police station and a large contingent from Shibpur, Howrah and Malipanchghora police stations were deployed on campus for some time.
Five Jadavpur University students had been punished last week after they were found guilty of ragging an arts student. There had been unrest on campus after a section of FETSU had termed the inquiry into the incident as “undemocratic”. Four union office bearers had also resigned after they had differences with this section of the union on Friday.Mou.Chakraborty@hindustantimes.com