Jadavpur University, one of the top public universities in Kolkata, India, known for its vibrant student community and academic excellence, is now finding itself entangled in a major problem following the tragic death of a first-year student allegedly due to ragging.
The incident happened on Wednesday, August 9th, when Swapnadeep Kundu (17), a student of the Bengali Department, jumped from the second floor of the A2 hostel building. Later, the victim’s family alleged that Kundu became a victim of ragging. They alleged that Kundu had called and informed his parents regarding ragging in the boys’ hostel on the fateful night.
Due to this incident a fierce debate has started that attracted the attention of the major political parties in West Bengal. The Jadavpur University incident has also captured the attention of both local and national mainstream media outlets, initiating a media trial.
The vilification of the Jadavpur University students went to such an extent that it resulted in several scuffles between the students and political activists, including one involving the state’s leader of the Opposition.
Amid this, East Post attempted to understand the views of the students who are demonised by the political parties and the mainstream media alike.
Hostels are the hubs of patriarchy, students allege
Several students that East Post came across the campus have the view that the hostels have turned into a hub of ragging in Jadavpur University and they are quite unsafe for the fresher students.
Samyo, who doesn’t use a surname, is a second-year post-graduate (PG) student of Journalism and Mass Communication at Jadavpur University. He told East Post, “I went to the main boys’ hostel several times. I was not the hostel boarder but I could easily go inside. I also didn’t have to sign any register before entering the hostel. Other non-boarders also could easily enter the hostel and stay there as long as they wanted. Even the pass-out students resided in the hostels.”
When asked about the root cause of the prevalence of ragging in Jadavpur University hostels, Manabendra Nashkar, a PG student of the Linguistics Department, said, “We heard of ragging going on in the main boys’ hostel from time to time. The boys’ hostel is a hub of patriarchy. I have witnessed much of this because a lot of my friends live in the hostel. Also, by experiencing the behaviour and gesture on campus, we have got an indication about this. We were not completely unaware, but we didn’t expect that it could be so gruesome”.
Sayani Saha, a second-year PG student in the Philosophy Department said, “We’ve heard from our friends that new students have to face ragging by their seniors. The seniors take the ‘introduction’ of every first-year student by asking them obscene questions. But we didn’t realise that the horror of this ‘introduction’ would go to this extent”.
A first-year student who fled the hostel
Arpan Maity is a first-year student at Jadavpur University. He and the victim enrolled in the university around the same time. Maity has alleged that he had to flee the hostel, which provides a very subsidised accommodation in the metro city when he came to know that living there would mean going through extreme ragging.
“One has to introduce themself to all the seniors from 11pm to 2am and that ‘introduction’ should be full of all kinds of obscene details”.
Arpan Maity, first-year student, Jadavpur University
“I lived in the hostel for three days. I am from Asansol. Since my childhood, I have always wanted to study at Jadavpur University. I wanted to stay in the main boys’ hostel because I have seen on news channels that students of Jadavpur University actively participate in the reformation of society by coming out on the streets on different occasions. This is the reason I started romanticising the hostel life of Jadavpur University; that’s why I went there”, Maiti recalled.
“During my stay at the hostel, there were a few things I had to face like I had to cut my hair so short that nobody could hold it. This is the rule for all first-year students and they have to stay like this for the entire year. Moreover, we can’t wear shorts in the hostel but full pants only. We must return to the hostel by 6pm and, if any of the first-year students can’t make it on time, then they have to explain the reason for getting late to the seniors”, he alleged.
“One has to introduce themself to all the seniors from 11pm to 2am and that ‘introduction’ should be full of all kinds of obscene details”, Maity alleged he came to know.
“When I was living in the hostel most of the seniors went home on semester break and not all the juniors have joined the hostel. So we were told that after the seniors return and when all the juniors are allotted rooms, then our real ‘introduction’ would start. After hearing this I felt scared and unsafe in the hostel and also I felt that my studies will also be hampered if I stayed in the hostel. That’s why I decided to leave the hostel”, Maiti said.
“I won’t say that all the seniors are bad. Many seniors were cooperative and nice during my stay at the hostel. What happened to Swapnadeep, I feel, that a few people are responsible for this and not all the seniors were involved. I feel bad to see that because of these few people the entire main boys’ hostel has to face criticism”, Maity stressed.
Political slugfest over Jadavpur University
India’s federally-ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the left parties have entered into a slugfest over Jadavpur University. According to the right-wing BJP and the TMC, whose student bodies have no visible presence on the campus, the left students’ unions have turned the campus into a hotbed of “anti-national” and “criminal activities”.
The Trinamool Congress Chhatra Parishad (TMCP)—the student wing of the TMC—and the BJP’s youth wing Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) organised roadside demonstrations in front of the campus demanding justice for Kundu.
Later, there were scuffles between some leftwing students and the members of TMCP and BJYM on separate occasions.
During one such scuffle, which was triggered by a few students waving black flags at the state’s Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP, his bodyguards thrashed the students in public, which enraged other students as well.
“TMCP workers tried to forcefully barge into the campus”
Anugga Roy, first-year student, Department of Philosophy, Jadavpur University
On Wednesday, August 16th, a general body (GB) meeting was held at the campus by the students regarding the suicide incident and the issue of ragging. During the GB, the TMCP, parading a large number of outsiders, tried to barge inside the campus forcefully to submit a memorandum.
Due to this forceful entry of the ruling party, with a boisterous mob, the students alleged they were scared of a ruckus and formed a human chain to prevent any sort of vandalism inside the campus.
Anugga Roy, a first-year student of Philosophy, said, “A GB was about to start at our campus around 3.30pm. At that time, the TMCP workers tried to forcefully barge into the campus for a deputation. We tried to block them by making a human chain, and they tried to provoke us by using offensive language. This led to a clash due to which one of our students became unwell. An ambulance was called to take him away, and seeing him, the workers (TMCP) also started pretending by falling one by one. Still, the clash continued.”
“We had to start our GB in the middle of the clash. During the GB the media also started provoking us by recording it even when they were told not to do so”, Roy added.
What do the students consider as a solution?
“CCTV cameras can never be the solution to this problem because they are present in every corner of the IIT and NIT institutions but still, the number of ragging cases in those institutions is the highest.”
Samyo, PG student of Mass Communications, Jadavpur University
Students of Jadavpur University are gravely disappointed with the media and political parties because instead of listening to the issues of the students and solving them they are adding more fuel to the fire.
Rather than providing solutions to a deeper social issue like ragging, the parties, the students allege, are trying to derive political mileage from the death of an innocent teenager and the agony of other students and their parents.
Most of the students East Post spoke to, rejected the view that the installation of CCTV cameras and unnecessary restrictions on the freedom of adult students will resolve a grave issue like ragging.
“Now the top-most demand of the right-wing organisations and those unable to understand the intensity of the situation is the installation of CCTV cameras in the main boys’ hostel. CCTV cameras can never be the solution to this problem because they are present in every corner of the IIT and NIT institutions but still, the number of ragging cases in those institutions is the highest. Jadavpur University is nothing in comparison to those institutions. CCTV can only give witness evidence but it can never prevent ragging”, Samyo claimed.
“We know that this mindset of ragging is patriarchal, and it is our (students’) and also the authority’s duty to abolish this patriarchal mindset by taking effective steps. The university authorities should include this in extracurricular activities. Students should be given special classes where they can be educated about the root of ragging and awareness can be spread among them…we want that students should be provided with counselling services and the authorities should stay more active and attentive. Whenever they get this kind of complaint from any student they must take quick action and form a committee to look into this matter”, Samyo added.
Complaining about the fact that a patriarchal mindset makes a section of students bully those who are socio-economically backward, Nashkar stressed the role of counselling for students and even the authorities. He said a scientific structure must be built to do away with the menace.
“The students and administration should undergo strict sessions of anti-ragging for better handling of the issue. Also, the way the boys’ hostel functions should be transformed completely. It should be brought under a proper scientific structure”, Nashkar emphasised.
The university, which has a “Grade A” from National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) and ranks at the fourth position in India in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2023 list, doesn’t have a full-time vice-chancellor (VC).
It was only after the death of Kundu that Governor CV Ananda Bose appointed a teacher as a temporary VC. It has been alleged by a section of academics that the new VC lacks the required experience mandated by the University Grants Commission for the position.
